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THE BEAST, MODERNISM AND THE 
EVANGELICAL FAITH 





AWN OF PRINGE 
ot LPs 
GAER ye 1926 | 


Boca ds 


The Beast, Modernism 


and 
The Evangelical Faith 
By 


FRANCIS ASA*WIGHT 


Author of “THE KincpoM oF Gop” or “The Reign 
of Heaven Among Men” and “BABYLON 
THE HARLOT” 





1926 
THE STRATFORD COMPANY, Publishers 
Boston, MAssacHUSETTS 








"/E 


Copyright, 1926 
The STRATFORD OCO., Publishers 
Boston, Mass. 


me 






To that great body of men and women, who 
know HIM whom they have believed; stal- 
warts in faith, courageous in deeds, stead- 
fast in purpose; who ring true whenever 


tested, is this book affectionately dedicated. 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https ://archive.org/details/oeastmodernismevOOwigh_0O 


Foreword 


HE ‘“‘Beast’’ of John (Rev. 13:1-8), the ‘‘ Little 

Horn’’ of Daniel (7:8, 11, 24) and ‘‘The Law- 
less One’’ of Paul (II Thess. 2:3-8) describe, without 
doubt, the last human government, which with the 
False Prophet will control the earth. This govern- 
ment is permitted until man sees what an utter failure 
he is without God, and then it is swept away by the 
incoming Kingdom of Christ. Modern theorists 
hold that a belief in the God of the Bible stands in 
the way of a realization of their Utopia; and mod- 
ernists in religion are striving to eliminate the super- 
natural from the Bible—thus removing the evidence 
of a personal God—which they think will make the 
Bible a more rational and acceptable book. In their 
success lies the evolving of the Beast—False Prophet 
—government (Rev. 18:1-18) which Paul calls ‘‘The 
Lawless One.’’ 

Because this book mentions ‘‘beasts’’ and ‘‘horns’’ 
let no one think that it deals with grotesque figures, 
in which are hidden hazy theories, the solving of 
which would be of like interest to the working of a 
eross-word puzzle. The issues discussed are of a 
momentous nature, involving the life of both church 
and state. In fact, the events have followed so rapidly 
the interpretation of these prophecies, that the dailies 


i 


FOREWORD 


and magazines have furnished the confirmation of 
their correctness. For the last six months the author 
has felt a great ‘‘urge’’ upon him in writing the last 
twenty-four chapters and the first; and the urge is 
still upon him to get this book out to the people with 
its fundamental proofs and warnings. 

In writing this book the author has not had before 
him the so-called erudite so much as that great body 
of believers, who are described in this book’s dedica- 
tion, who are a mighty host and in whom rests the 
confidence of our great God, and from whom He ex- 
pects great things. Then there is another large body 
of inquiring believers, who in the strong current of 
skepticism, are feeling for the rock, so that they may — 
stand securely upon the Eternal Verities of God’s 
WORD. We are in the days of great testings and 
overturnings and God wants men and women of large 
hearts, filled with His compassion for the erring, and 
who, while proclaiming the truth that may eut and 
blast all false teaching and systems, yet to have it 
come from a well of tears as was the case with the 
Master when He denounced and then wept over Jeru- 
salem. There must be no compromising with SIN or 
error in any form. Sin and error must be repented 
of, and confessed and gouged out even if it is an eye. 
The most deadly heresy is a besetting sin that hides 
the face of God and blights our fruitage and dulls 
our comprehension of truth. Who can read the ad- 
monitions of our Lord at the close of this book, and 


ul 


FOREWORD 


they could have been continued for many pages, with- 
out seeing how urgent Jesus is on this matter. 

This book is divided into five parts, each one of 
which could be separated into a pamphlet by itself. 
Yet the parts are linked together by the greatness of 
the subject of which the book treats. Part first is 
an exegesis of the prophecies concerning the Beast 
and False Prophet and their utter destruction by 
Christ’s Return to reign. Part second gives the 
fundamentals of Our Faith as opposed to these false 
systems of government and religion. Part third 
shows the errors of Modernism out of which comes 
the False Prophet, when it compromises and unites 
with other false religions for the purpose of a World 
Religion. Part four gives the evidences that the 
Bible is the inspired Word of God in the fulfillment 
of prophecies, as well as to show the stately steppings 
of our God down through the ages. Part five logic- 
ally shows the Coming of the King and the inaugura- 
tion of His glorious Kingdom upon the earth. The 
time and the signs of His Return have been given 
with care but the nature and glory of the Millennium 
have been left for participation rather than a venture 
into the fields of speculation, which this volume has 
avoided. It was enough for Paul, after his graphic 
account of the translation of the saints, to say ‘‘So 
shall we ever be with the Lord.’’ 

Citizens of the Coming Kingdom, shall we not gird 
our loins anew with His might; and come in the 


ill 


FOREWORD 


deepest self-humiliation close to His beating heart, 
that we may be filled with His Spirit for service; 
so that, as we move out for new victories we can 
continually hear Christ say ‘‘THAT which ye 
HAVE, HOLD FAST TILL I COME”’ (Rev. 2:25). 
F. A. W. 

All quotations in this book are from the ‘‘ Ameri- 
can Standard Version’’ Thomas H. Nelson and Sons, 
New York. 


lv 


Contents 
PART I 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


Chapter 
I 

II 

Iil 


VII 
VIII 
TX 
xX 
XI 
XII 


Page 
A World Peace, State and Religion. 1 
‘‘The Lawless One’’—The Proletariat 11 


Man’s Government Without God eg: 
Imminence and Shortness of Reign . 25 
The False Prophet. : 32 
‘* Armageddon’’ — Two Beasts staan 
by Christ’s Coming 4 § . 43 
PART II 
THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OuR FAITH 
The Cross vs. the Red Flag: <9 O9 
The Triumphant Cross. ; . 66 
The All-Conquering Christ Yi (2 
The Deity of Jesus. 79 
The Holy Sian other aearate ob 
Inspiration of the Bible. : . 101 
PART IIT 
THE Bisie vs. MopERNISM 
God’s Two Great Books . : eo 


XIII 
XIV 


The Bible and the Critics . i SUL Ae 


CONTENTS 


Chapter Page 
XV _ Objections Turned Into Proofs . 148 
XVI Fosdick’s Hebrew Universe . 158 
XVII Modernism and Satan ee 
PART, 
PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 
XVIII Prophecies Fulfilled CV LEE 
XIX Destruction of Jerusalem . ALSO 
XX Jesus and Jerusalem . . 199 
XXII Restoration of the Jews . 206 
XXII The Jews in Revelation ,; Aes 
PA Ry) 
Our Lorp’s RETURN 

XXIII Christ’s Second Coming; Why Un- 
popular . . 229 
XXIV Dates and Vagaries of the I. ‘B: 8, a 243 

XXV ‘‘Millions Now Living Will Never 
Die’’ . 256 
XXVI_ Universal Peace anne AY Christ 4 262 
XXVIII Christ the King Eternal . 275 

XXVIII The Signs and Event of Chren S 
Coming : . 285 

XXIX Visible Signs and pienariiion for 
Christ’s Return , 292 
Appendix . 301 


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THE BEAST AND THE FALSE 
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CHAPTER I 


A World Peace, State and Religion 


HE whole world is coming rapidly into (1) a 

World Peace (2) a World State (3) a World 
Religion. Already we have nominal peace through- 
out the world, and a world state is partially function- 
ing under ‘“‘The League of Nations,’’ and the bar- 
riers that have divided the great religions of the 
world are rapidly being removed. But strange to 
say, all of these much lauded events, are being pro- 
moted by one great cause which in itself is repre- 
hensible viz., 4 Uniwersal Disregard of Authority. 


A Worup PEACE 


One great cause, out of several, for promoting world 
peace is that wars do not pay. When humanity 
clearly discerns that wars are harmful to all and ad- 
vantageous to none; that the victors as well as the 
vanquished were losers in this late world war, then 
wars will largely cease. Great Britain, France, Italy, 
Belgium ete., could hardly survive another such vic- 
tory. Nothing more quickly muzzles ‘‘the dogs of 
war’’ when they are being unloosed than this. If war 
does not pay then why all of this bloodshed, destruc- 
tion of property and a return to savagery for a year 


[1] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


or more? When the people really see the futility of 
war, they will despoil old ‘‘Mars’’ of his shining coat 
of mail and will drag him off his spirited steed, which 
so enhances his glory and they will put in its place “‘a 
pale, sickly horse, whose rider is Death’’ and whose 
shroud can hardly cover the skeleton beneath. 


Morau Force DISREGARDED 


But there is another force or lack of force, besides 
good horse sense, that will make for peace and that is 
this universal disregard for Authority. Many nations 
enter into war, when it brings great sacrifices, be- 
cause of the ties of blood, or the obligations of solemn 
treaties, or in response to the call of Conscience. 
Great Britain’s obligation to the neutrality of Bel- 
clum was one cause for her entrance into the world 
war. The United States, in order to save a helpless 
world, forsook her ease and past traditions, and en- 
tered the world conflict at vast expense when she 
thought it was more lucrative to stay out. These, 
with others, obeyed the voices of conscience and duty 
and sacrificed much because of them. But it is very 
doubtful whether these voices of obligation would be 
obeyed to-day. Not only will the authority of kings 
and of presidents, legislatures and dictators go un- 
heeded, but the voices of duty and patriotism that 
have brought with enthusiasm whole nations to arms 
will fall on dull ears and hearts. There has come over 
the world a spirit of indifference ; call it lawlessness or 


[2] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


good nature, or a love for fairplay—‘‘to live and let 
live,’’ or it may be a combination of all of these; but 
it will resist every call to enter into the responsibilities 
and sacrifices of war. ‘*Wat’s the h’odds as long as 
we're ’appy’’ expresses it. It is illustrated by the 
ereat Russian armies, who, when betrayed by their 
leaders and duped by their government, said ‘‘ What 
are we fighting for anyway; we are brothers to all; let 
us lay down our arms and quit.’’ And they did! ‘‘ How 
Admirable!’’ most will say. Yet, but as the sequel 
shows, How Dangerous! A few millions of the Bol- 
sheviki, with wild schemes and distorted views, fell 
upon these unsuspecting ‘‘ Brothers of all’? who might 
under the Christ have developed into a mighty na- 
tion; and they exploited the wealth and business of 
the better classes and seized the accumulated wealth. 
of the great empire itself, to use all of these vast 
treasures to spread their Godless, bloody propaganda 
throughout the earth. The Bolsheviki, like the Phil- 
istines of old, are ‘‘still in the land’’ and let the 
Christian nations beware. 


A. WorLD STATE 


An international government which is composed of 
fifty-five ‘‘member states’’ under the name of ‘‘The 
League of Nations’’ is already functioning as a lim- 
ited world state. The United States, though not yet 
a member, will probably enter the world court, which 
is universally favored by Americans from the Presi- 


[3] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


dent down. This nation must find a market and it 
will discover that ‘‘aloofness’’ does not open doors 
etc. But she has a great open door by being a 
ereditor nation, which we believe she will wisely use. 
What she has already done in furnishing the ‘‘ Dawes 
Plan’’ to Germany may be extended to France, Italy, 
Belgium, ete. This*is, we believe, the cause of her 
pressing the payment of these war debts that are 
due; for it will lead these nations to enter into nego- 
tiations instead of a silent repudiation. This will 
establish mutual plans that will be helpful to both 
parties, and will also beget in these debtor nations, 
self respect and confidence that is so much needed 
for all. Two neighbors, manfully facing their obliga- 
tions to each other instead of ignoring them, brings a 
blessing in cooperation that is greater than if the 
obligations had not existed. The greater blessings 
that will flow from these vast loans of this nation to 
others is yet to come, if treated in a kind but firm 
manner. All of these things are great factors in 
bringing the nations of the earth into a closer union. 


DISREGARD FOR AUTHORITY 


But this same reckless disregard of Authority will 
contribute its part. The voice of patriotism will be 
muffled by the larger call of the world. The authority 
of the home, state and country will be ignored as of 
too small account when compared with these great 
world affairs. Just as the Easterner, who comes into 


[4] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the great West with his conscientious scruples over 
the small things of life; which are not only just and 
right, but very needful in the forming of character; 
yet they seem to the big Westerner to be like the pen- 
nies which the Easterner brought with him for trad- 
ing. ‘‘Pard, it may be that you are right’’ comes the 
reply, ‘‘but this is a Big country and small things 
don’t count out here.’’ This reckless, careless spirit 
will break down race and state lines and make the 
world almost akin. 


PERILS OF BOLSHEVISM 


But there is one nation, and other people of like 
political ereed, that will not enter this world state 
until they are ready to absorb it in themselves. The 
fear of this atheistic Soviet government of Russia 
will tend to drive the other nations together. Lloyd 
George in his cabled articles published in the Pitts- 
burgh Press, June 13, 1925 says: ‘‘ While the govern- 
ments of Europe are fidgeting over an army of 
100,000 men in a country which once had an army of 
4,000,000, a new peril is arising in the east, which 
may alter the history of the world.’’ This refers to 
the trouble in China. He continues, ‘‘But Bolshevik 
Russia, near at hand and watching her opportunity, 
has not been slow to take advantage of the forces of 
discontent. Indeed the ground has been assiduously 
prepared. In Moscow there is an important school 
for Chinese in which young men from China are in- 


[5] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


tensively trained in Bolshevik principles and sent 
back in hordes to their native land to spread the new 
gospel. It is the instinet of the revolutionary to fish 
in troubled waters and Russia has decided views about 
China. With the idea set on a great combination 
which might control the world, the Soviet govern- 
ment has been busy with its propaganda. Its agents 
fan the flames, and here its knowledge of eastern 
Psychology has helped them in the work. For the 
Russian is Asiatic in origin and blood and tempera- 
ment. Moscow admits that Bolshevik agents are active 
in China.”’ 

So writes the shrewdest diplomat and the Christian 
statesman, who has the clearest vision of the affairs 
of Europe and Asia. In Rev. 16:12 we read of ‘‘the 
kings that come from the sunrising’’ (East), which 
are gathered by the slimy frog-like spirit of the 
Beast and False Prophet (vs. 18, 14). China is doubt- 
less one of these governments, along with Japan and 
India, which are to be important factors in bringing 
the governments of the world under the final control 
of the Radical Socialists. 


A Worup RELIGION 


This spirit of indifference to Authority called ‘‘Tol- 
eration’’ that has contributed so much toward world 
peace and a world state, will be the controlling factor 
in producing a World Religion. It grows from the 
same tap-root, the Umversal Disregard of Authority, 


[6] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


and will infect all of the great religions of the world. 
This will be true, not only with Christianity as 1s 
shown by the Modernists, but even the Jews are ready 
to accept Jesus as their great teacher and probably 
the greatest Jew. ‘‘Is he not a Jew?’’ they ask, ‘‘and 
are not his ethical teachings the purest and best? then 
why should we not enroll him as our greatest Jew.’’ 
This will bring the applause of the Modernists and of 
the unthinking world. But another Jew, who acknowl- 
edged Jesus as a ‘‘teacher come from God’’ heard 
Jesus say ‘‘Ye must be born anew’’ to ‘‘enter the 
kingdom of God’’ (John 3:3-7). ‘‘And I, if I be 
lifted up from the earth (on the cross John 12:33 vs. 
24) will draw all men unto myself.’’ It is a faith in 
a once crucified, but now resurrected and glorified 
Saviour that saves (John 3:14; Luke 24:46, 47). Mr. 
Gandhi of India is ready to accept the precepts of 
Jesus, but is not willing to bow to the ‘‘ All Author- 
ity’’ (Matt. 28:18-20) of the Crucified Redeemer by 
obedience and follow under His standard and _ let 
Christ reign supreme. 


COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS 


Let it be said in thunder tones ‘‘Christianity is a 
LIFE to be lived and not only rules to be followed.’’ 
It is Christ living in our inmost being and then that 
life shining out in loving deeds is what differentiates 
Christianity from all other religions. If you are 
gsoing to compare Christ and His religion with others 


[7] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


let it be done by Christ’s own standard viz., ‘‘By 
their Fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather 
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?’’ (Matt. 7:16-20). 
Take for instance the Hon. William HK. Gladstone as 
he is seen picking out of the gutter a drunken woman 
to take her to his home so that Mrs. Gladstone, in the 
strength of Christ, may clean her up within and 
without and thus give her a new start; and then turn 
to a company of Turks, who are tossing up a tender 
baby, so that they may catch it upon their bayonets 
and then hear the demoniacal laugh when the cruel 
blade pierces through the tender body of the babe. 
Extreme cases! Yes, but it is not possible for such 
bloody fruit to grow upon the Christian tree, neither 
ean Mohammedanism grow a Gladstone. If Mr. H. 
G. Wells in his extolling the religion of Gautema 
Buddha, would descend from the heights of his imag- 
ination long enough to see the plight of ‘‘sad, sad 
India’’ under the blighting stagnation of the dead 
religion of Buddhism, he would understand that 
““NIRVANA—self abnegation’’ alone, without the 
consequent life that Christ alone can give, works death 
and not life. This comparing religions with a note- 
book in hand is the devil’s own trap, and is the scheme 
of the Sanballots to stop the work by holding a con- 
ference ‘‘in the plains of Ono.’’ Oh, that all Chris- 
tian missionaries might also reply ‘‘We are doing a 
great work so that we cannot come down’’ (Neh. 6:2, 
3). 


[8] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


CHRIST’S GREAT COMMISSION 


The Christ did not send His missionaries into 
China or India ete., to have them put Him into a 
moral contest with Confucius or to compare philoso- 
phies with ‘‘the Wise men of the Kast.’’ He sent 
them there to proclaim with the unction of the Holy 
Spirit ‘‘the gospel of Christ, which is the Dynamite 
of God unto salvation to everyone who believes”’ 
(Rom. 1:16). How far would Paul have gotten if 
he had invited the Grecian philosophers to meet him 
at Corinth to compare religions and then compromis- 
ing by retaining what was good in their heathen 
philosophy. Paul said ‘‘But we preach Christ Cruci- 
fied; unto Jews a stumbling block, and unto Gentiles 
foolishness ; but unto them that are called, both Jews 
and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom 
of God (I Cor. 1:23-24). Paul knew that his gospel 
was considered weak and foolish by the wise. He was 
not so foolish as some missionaries in China, India, 
Japan etc. who are ready to retain the good in the 
religion of the natives and mix it in with the Christian 
and thus make a religion that will be acceptable and 
also practical in its working. Paul knew that such 
work would have ended in utter failure (I Cor. 1:18- 
21), and there is no doubt about the failure of this 
plan. Do not these missionaries know that it was just 
such a procedure of compromise during the time of 
Constantine and the events that followed in absorbing 


[9] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the heathen religious customs that produced the Great 
Apostasy and the consequent ‘‘Dark Ages’’ for a 
thousand years? But such compromises of to-day will 
usher in, not the dark ages, but the dark midnight 
out of which will soon come a glorious Millennial Day 
of Righteousness and Peace. The world is gradually 
merging into this threefold condition, getting ready 
for the final government of the Beast—‘‘The Lawless 
One’’—and the False Prophet, which lasting only 
three and a half years, yet will demonstrate the utter 
futility of a man’s government without God. 


[10] 


CHAPTER II 


The Lawless One—The Proletariat 


“And he (Satan) stood upon the sand of the sea” (Rev. 
eral) 


ATAN is cogitating. He is looking out over the 

sea of humanity, which having passed through 
the terrible convulsions of a world war, is now emerg- 
ing into a new order which is much like a brotherhood 
of nations, which presages the kingdom of God on 
earth. Once Satan had offered these kingdoms to 
Jesus, if He would fall down and worship him; but 
the offer was spurned by the Son of God, who chose 
to win His kingdom by the way of the shameful cross. 
As the time is about due for the Nobleman to return 
‘‘having received His kingdom,’’ (Luke 19:12, 15) 
Satan, realizing it was his last chance, seizes the situa- 
tion to produce his masterpiece in human govern- 
ment, and to show to God, angels and men, that he 
could have a universal government in which God is 
entirely eliminated. Yea, he would defy and _ blas- 
pheme God and heaven, and yet rule the earth with 
such wisdom and skill that he would draw forth the 
homage of the whole world (Rev. 13:4). 


[11] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


A UNIVERSAL DEMOCRACY 


‘‘ And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea’’ (Rev. 
he 1) 

‘‘The waters (sea) are peoples, multitudes, nations 
and tongues’’ (Rev. 17:15; for text and meaning of 
symbols see Appendix 1). As beast means govern- 
ment so this last human government is seen ‘“coming 
up out of the sea (waters),’’ which are peoples of all 
nations of the earth. A government coming up out 
of the peoples and multitudes must be a ‘‘ government 
of the people and by the people,’’ which is a Democ- 
racy; and as the sea is universal, this must be A 
UNIVERSAL DEMOCRACY (Rev. 18:7, 8). The 
word ‘‘multitudes’’ (oxloi) is used in Rev. 17:15 
instead of the word ‘‘tribes’’ (phules) as in the other 
Six groupings of these words (Rev. 5:9, 7:9, 10:11, 
11:9, 13:7, 14:6). This Greek word ‘‘oxloi,’’ which 
is inserted here in a marked way, means ‘‘The com- 
mon people opp. to the rulers’? (Grimms-Wilkes’ 
Greek Lex.—J. H. Thayer). This Lexicon also men- 
tions this very verse, viz., ‘‘In Rev. 17:15 seems to 
designate troops of men assembled together without 
order.’’ This indicates that this is a government of 
the multitudes, a populace, like the Soviet of Russia, 
or the Commune of France—the rule of the Pro- 
letariat. It 1s a Radical—Socialistic or Communistic 
government, “arising up out of’? the ‘‘peoples and 
multitudes,’’ yet retaining the ‘‘iron’’ of Rome, as is 


[12] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


seen in Russia today; and covering the earth (Dan. 
2 :41-48; Rev. 13:7). 


SEVEN MountTAIN GOVERNMENTS 


This government has seven heads, which ‘‘are seven 
mountains,’’ and ‘‘they are seven kings’’ or govern- 
ments (Rev. 17:9-10). This would indicate that seven 
great promontories or world-wide governments that 
are mountain-peaks in history (Jer. 51:25 ef. Dan. 
2:35, for a great mountain to fill the earth) would 
constitute the basis of this last World government, 
which partakes of and sums up all of them in itself; 
that in its destruction all human governments will 
come to an end. All of these seven—Babylonian, 
Media-Persian, Grecian, Roman, Napleonic Empire, 
The Central Powers and the League of Nations, 
occupy about the same territory, and concern the same 
peoples in some ways, and have been the scenes of 
great world activities in the past and during this 
last world war. Napoleon carried his conquests into 
Asia, and Germany built its railroad from Berlin to 
Bagdad on the Kuphrates, and included the Turkish 
Empire. Babylonia, Media-Persia and Greece, and 
the states that constituted the once Roman Empire 
have been the battle ground. These seven heads have 
no diadems like the ten horns, therefore are not now 
reigning: neither are they active like the ten kings, 
who have not only diadems, but hate and destroy the 
harlot, and also ‘‘war against the Lamb’’ (Rev. 13:1; 


[13] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


17:14, 16, 17). These seven heads have only names 
of blasphemy, which characterizes all of these moun- 
tain governments from Babylonia down to. this 
eighth one, whose main characteristic is blasphemy. 
Even the seventh head, ‘‘The League of Nations,’’ 
ignored God in its covenant and in none of the ses- 
sions of the Peace Conference was public prayer 
offered to God. Four of these, Babylonia, Media- 
Persia, Greece and Rome, are revealed in Dan. 2:31- 
45; 7:1-7; but in Dan. 7:8, 20, 24 we find three more 
which become component parts of this Beast govern- 
ment (which is the same as the ‘‘little horn’’) which 
make seven. But these last three, being absorbed by 
‘‘the little horn’’ as the last human government (Dan. 
7:8, 24, 26) would make ‘‘an eighth,’’ which agrees 
with the statement in Rey. 17:11, viz., which though 
‘‘of the seven’’ he ‘‘is himself also an eighth.”’ 

The angel says ‘‘The five are fallen’’ (Rev. 17:10). 
These would be the first four above mentioned, and 
the fifth one would be the French Revolution that 
headed up in the world-wide empire of Napoleon, 
which is now ‘‘fallen.’’ The one that now ‘‘is,’’ which 
is the sixth and the time of John’s standpoint, was 
the German autocracy, that summed up in itself and 
its militarism the autoecracies of the world—Germany, 
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and even Russia, 
which came at last to be under German propagandists. 
In its overthrow, Autocracies and their concomitant 
militarism are forever swept away. The seventh head 


[14] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


is ‘‘the other that is not yet come and when he cometh 
he must continue a little while’ (Rev. 17:10). This 
one, we would say, is ‘‘the League of Nations,’’ which 
has already commenced to function. It may have to 
be readjusted, so that its power will not rest so much 
upon a super-government, as upon the combined moral 
force of the sentiment of all the nations in common 
consent and agreement: which shall be expressed 
through an international court, ete. which will enforce 
its decisions, not so much by armed force, but by the 
moral sentiment of all mankind, expressed through 
the Boycott (Rev. 13:17). It continues only *‘a little 
while’? (Rev. 17:10). 


‘“RRENCH REVOLUTION’’ REVIVED 


This last government, then, that John sees (Rev. 
13:1-8) and the composition of which the angel gives 
by showing how it reached its maturity (Rev. 17:8- 
17), is the eighth one (in suecession) ‘‘though of the 
seven,’’ and it ‘‘plucks up by the roots’’ these last 
three; viz. (1) The French Revolution—Napoleonic 
Empire, (2) The Five Autocracies—‘‘the Central 
Powers,’’ and lastly, (8) the League of Nations (Dan. 
7:8, 20). It is this ‘‘eighth’’ one that when he was 
one of the seven ‘‘receiveth the death-stroke of the 
sword,’’ and was healed. ‘He ‘‘was and is not, and is 
about to come up out of the abyss’’ (Rev. 13:3, 12, 
14. 17':8). 


[15] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


‘‘And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also 
an eighth, and is of the seven; and he goeth into 
perdition’’ (Rev. 17:11), is the beast of Rev. 13:1-8. 

Then, this last world government must be (1) ‘‘of 
the seven’’ (2) must have received ‘‘the death-stroke 
of the sword’’ and (3) ‘‘is not’’ and (4) is healed 
and (5) ‘‘comes up out of the abyss’’ and (6) goes 
‘‘into perdition.’’ Let us try these marks of identifica- 
tion on the fifth head—the French Revolution of 
1792-99, which headed up in the Napoleonic world 
empire. 

(1) It is of the seven (2) received its death-stroke 
by ‘‘the sword’’ of militarism (8) ‘‘is not’’ for over 
a hundred years but now (4) is healed. Modern 
writers instead of denouncing this ‘‘ Reign of Terror’’ 
(1792-95) applaud it as the dawn of a new era of 
freedom and (5) is arising up out of the abyss under 
the name of Bolshevism, Radical Socialism, I. W. W., 
rule of the Proletariat, and (6) will go into perdition 
(Rev. 17:14, 19:20) for he is ‘“‘the son of perdition’’ 
(II Thess. 2:8). 


Tue LAWLESS ONE 


But this fifth head also fits exactly into Paul’s de- 
scription of this same government which he ealls the 
‘‘Liawless One.’’ 

‘It (Christ’s return) will not be except the falling 
away comes first and the man of sin be revealed, the 
son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth him- 


[16] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


self against all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, 
setting himself forth as God. Remember ye not that 
when I wast yet with you I told you these things. 
And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end 
that he may be revealed in his own season. For the 
mystery of lawlessness doth already work: only there 
is one that restraineth now, until he is taken out of 
the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, 
whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of 
his mouth, and bring to naught by the manifestation 
of his coming; even he whose coming is according to 
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and 
lying wonders’’ ete. (II Thess. 2:3-9). 

This is a graphic description of the rule of the 
‘*Proletariat’’ in France in 1792-5, which is called the 
‘*Reign of Terror,’’ and also of that which is now seen 
in embryo all over the world. Though checked by the 
‘fone that restraineth,’’ which was Napoleon, followed 
by the ‘‘Holy Alliance’’ (1815-1848) and the Central 
Powers (1871-1918) it has been in the period of incu- 
bation until now, when all autocracy and militarism 
are overthrown, he is ready ‘‘to be revealed in his own 
season’? (vy. 6). ‘‘The one that restraineth now’’ in 
Paul’s day was imperial Rome, whose greatest virtue 
was law and order; and ‘‘the one who restraineth’’ 
until our day was the monarchies called ‘‘The Con- 
cert of Europe’’ which headed up in the Empire of 
Germany under its Kaisers (Caesars). As all re- 


[17] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


straint is now removed, we see the same ‘‘lawless one’’ 
being revealed. Daniel says ‘‘He shall think to 
change the times and the law’’ (Dan. 7:25). ‘‘The 
Assembly’’ at Paris in 1792-3, passed an edict that 
‘<Time’’ should begin with them; so their calendar 
began with the year ‘‘one,’’ commencing September 
22nd, 1792. They “changed the week into ten days 
instead of seven, and formally abolished Christianity. 
We may rest assured that this head that was ‘‘as 
though it had been smitten unto death,’’ and ‘‘was 
and is not,’’ but when it ‘‘comes up out of the abyss’’ 
will be the same blasphemous, lawless government. 


| 18] 


CHAPTER III 


Man’s Government Without God 


“The beast which I saw,” says John, “was like unto a 
leopard (sagacious, stealthy) and his feet were as the feet 
of a bear, (Russia-the-bear-is where the feet of this beast 
rests and commenced) and his mouth as the mouth of a 
lion” (Big) (Rev. 13:2). 


HESE are the first three beasts of Dan. 7:4-6, 

though in reverse order. But it is very signifi- 
cant that the fourth beast of Daniel, which ‘‘ devoured 
and brake in pieces and stamped the residue with its 
feet,’’? (Dan. 7:7) which fitly describes Roman and 
Teutonic Autocracy, is entirely omitted. This shows 
that Autocracy and extreme miltarism are gone for- 
ever. This beast government rules, not with a great 
army, but by ‘‘great authority’’ and the boycott (Rev. 
18:2, 17). The Anti-Christ, which is this beast gov- 
ernment, is not the iron-teethed monster of Daniel 
(7:7), but ‘‘the little horn that is diverse from the 
former’’ (Rome—Dan. 7:24), that absorbs three king- 
doms (Dan. 7:24, 25) of the divisions that followed 
the Roman empire, and is the last—the eighth govern- 
ment to cover the earth. While the iron (Roman 
power) goes into the toes of the image, (Dan. 2:42) 
yet it may not be organized militarism: but the 


[19] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


treacherous work of the ‘‘Leopard’’ (the body of the 
beast, Rev. 13:2), which was shown in the French 
Revolution and is now so marked in Bolshevism in 
its numerous assassinations and wholesale murders 
and autocratic authority. The Anti-Christ, however, 
heads up in a great army gathered for the battle of 
Armageddon (Rev.16 :14-16) ; but this very gathering, 
which is near the close, shows it had not existed be- 
fore. This ‘‘little horn’’ instead of ‘‘devouring’’ has 
eyes like the eyes of a man (humane, intelligent), and 
‘fa mouth that spake very great things’’ (Dan. 7:8, 
20). The ‘‘leopard,’’ the body of this beast, according 
to Daniel (7:6) stood for Greece, whose strong char- 
acteristics were Democracy and earthly wisdom. 


Mourtu Biaaest ASSET 


His mouth is his biggest asset. ‘‘His mouth as the 
mouth of a lion.’’ ‘‘And there was given to him a 
mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.’’ ‘‘ And 
he opened his mouth for blasphemies’’ (Rey. 13:2, 5, 
6). Daniel’s description is the same. ‘‘In this horn 
were eyes like the eyes, of a man and a mouth, speak- 
ing great things.’’ ‘‘That horn that had eyes, and a 
mouth speaking great things’’ (Dan. 7:8, 20). 

Radical Socialism possesses this characteristic to 
perfection. It is ‘‘mouthy’’ to the extreme. In fact, 
it is nearly all mouth, or on paper, for it has never yet 
been fully tried. The opening of its big mouth shows 
its intense spirit of propaganda, such as is shown in 


[20] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the ‘‘Zinovieff letter,’’ which greatly affected the late 
election in England, and causes uneasiness in France 
and much fear throughout the world. This govern- 
ment is to rule with ‘‘Great Authority.’’? From its 
big mouth will pour forth great Pronouncements. It 
will make men good by formulas. Karl Marx will be 
the prophet, and his socialistic philosophy their bible, 
and men are to be made holy (that is, happy) by 
better economic conditions. 


FULL oF BLASPHEMY 


It is blasphemous to the core. ‘‘Upon his heads 
names of blasphemy.’’ ‘‘And he opened his mouth 
for blasphemies against God to blaspheme His name’”’ 
(Rev. 13:1, 5, 6). This agrees with Paul’s description 
already quoted, viz., ‘‘He that opposeth and exalteth 
himself against all that is called God.’’ This is another 
strong characteristic of Radical Socialists, who show a 
great aversion to God and Christianity. All political 
socialism from Karl Marx down is Godless. Germany, 
having given up the Son of Man for her superman, 
will fall in with much unanimity. No more of this 
‘*Gott mit uns’’ will be her ery, which bordered upon 
blasphemy when uttered. Let Bolshevism of Russia, 
Socialism of Germany, Communism of France, or 
Radical Socialism in all countries rule the world and 
the blasphemy of this beast government is assured. 


[21] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


Uses THE Boycort 


One virtue it possesses: it will taboo and attempt to 
banish war. It favors the boycott as sufficient force 
to preserve order and bring recalcitrant nations into 
line. Socialism is in harmony with this beast govern- 
ment in this, which declares ‘‘That no man shall be 
able to buy or to sell save he that hath the mark, even 
the name of the beast, or the number of his name’”’ 
(Rev. 13:17). This coercive principle of the boyeott 
has already been adopted by the League of Nations. 


Man’s NUMBER 


‘‘His number is six hundred and sixty-six’’ (Rev. 
13:18). 

This number, six hundred sixty-six, John says ‘‘is 
the number of a man’’ or ‘‘it is man’s number’’ (Rev. 
18:18). 

Earth or man’s number is four, Deity’s number is 
three: four plus three is seven, the perfect number, 
for it is God and man together. But four plus two, 
one half of four, is six, man’s number brought to its 
highest efficiency. Six is one short of seven, therefore, 
inefficient, even if it is repeated three times, 666— 
‘““The Superman.’’ It glorifies Man. Satan, knowing 
the proneness of men to laud and worship self, catches 
the worship of the world for this man’s government. 
It is MAN’S Day. Paul ealls it ‘‘The Man of sin’’ 
(II Thess. 2:3). Daniel (7:8) describes it ‘‘ Behold in 


[22] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


this horn were the eyes like the eyes of a Man and a 
mouth speaking great things.’’ This is in contrast to 
the iron-teethed monster of 7:7. Man, in all these 
cases is used in a generic sense, meaning mankind. It 
is mankind ruling itself. We—the people—rule, what 
need have we of God. ‘‘Let us break their (Jehovah 
and Christ’s) bonds asunder and cast away their 
cords from us’’ (Ps. 2:3). God permits it, so that 
man may know that without the regenerating power 
of the gospel of Christ and the uplifting might of the 
Holy Spirit, man can never lift himself out of the 
quagmire of sin and impotency in which he is found. 
THE EKigut-Foutp Way or H. G. WELLS 

Even ‘‘the Hight-fold Way’’ of Mr. H. G. Wells, 
which is ‘‘primitive Buddhism’’ reconstructed after 
Mr. Wells’ own philosophy, or his eight-fold ‘‘Broad 
Fundamentals of the World State’’ given in his ‘‘ Out- 
line of History’’ can be no more effective than scores 
of other such speculations that are based upon the re- 
jection of the Deity of Jesus Christ and the divine 
inspiration of the Holy Scriptures of which Jesus is 
the heart and life. In fact, this very government that 
Satan is using as his last grand masterpiece, will con- 
sist in the ‘‘Radicals’’ trying to put into execution 
such principles as these ‘‘eight fold fundamentals,”’ 
which Mr. H. G. Wells gives as the glorious climax of 
man’s mighty struggles through his ‘‘50,000 years’”’ of 
history (???). Satan is satisfied with anything that 
exalts man and eliminates God. ‘‘Away with God 


[23] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


? 


and heaven’’ will be the ery. ‘‘We are all-sufficient. 
When we perfect our ambitious programs, we will 
have a heaven here.’’ Fraternity, liberty, equality, 
words to conjure with, will be worn to a frazzle. 
There will be much glamor and show. With great 
material wealth, much scientific knowledge, great in- 
ventions and the experience of the ages to draw upon, 
the world will be enamored by the government they 
make by Satanic power, and will say, ‘‘ Who is like 
unto the beast?’’ i. e., Where was there ever a govern- 
ment like ours (Rev. 18:4). But it will be a dismal 
failure. Great discontent and lawlessness will per- 
vade the earth (Luke 21:25, 26). 


[24] 


CHAPTER IV 


Imminence and Shortness of Reign 


HIS last human government, called by John ‘‘the 

beast,’’ is seen even now ‘‘coming up out of the 
abyss’’ (Rev. 11:7) and lke an ominous cloud is 
threatening to cover the earth. Already it has a 
strangle hold on Russia, and is reaching out its 
clammy hands to ¢clutch the other nations of discon- 
tented Europe and Asia. It moves stealthily like 
‘‘the Leopard’’ with occult power and nothing seems 
to stay its progress. The Allied governments are 
already saying ‘‘ Who is able to war with the Beast ?’’ 
(Rev. 13:4). And this late effort of the ‘‘ Allied 
Nations’’ at Genoa and the Hague, led by that master 
of diplomacy, Lloyd George, has utterly failed to 
make any satisfactory arrangements with this Satanic 
power. The leopard has not changed in character 
any more than its spots. No wonder that the secret 
treaty at Rapallo between Germany and the Bolshe- 
viki, that opens up dissatisfied India and China 
(nearly one half of the world’s population) to the 
propaganda of a combined Germany and Russia, 
threw the conference at Genoa into dismay and hope- 
lessness; so that the ery is again ‘‘Who is able to 
war with the Beast?’’ News dispatches even today 


[25] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


(October 1, 1925) say that Germany wishes to re- 
assure Russia that there will be no infringement of 
the treaty of Rapallo of April 17, 1922 even if she 
does join the League of Nations. John and Paul both 
aseribe the power and authority of the Beast govern- 
ment to Satan (Rev. 13:1-8, II Thess. 2:9-10). Ger- 
many has already become a Social-Republe and she 
will, with her genius for organization, perfect it so 
that it will be acceptable to the world, which is al- 
ready possessed with the idea of a world brotherhood, 
and self-determination of all peoples. Germany has 
come through this world’s convulsion undevastated 
and will seize this form of government to gain world 
supremacy in industrial and commercial lines. To 
gain the confidence of the world she will renounce 
militarism, and will hope to obtain in an interna- 
tional brotherhood of working men, the mitigation of 
the rigorous exactions placed upon her by the Allied 
governments. If she accepts the ‘‘Soviet’’ she will 
probably rid it of the terrors of Bolshevism: but it 
will be without God or His religion, having only that 
which is furnished by the second beast that ‘‘comes 
up out of the earth’’ (Rev. 18:11), which is the same 
place where Neitzsche and Lenin got theirs. Prof. 
Adolf Harnack speaks of ‘‘the renewed longing for 
religion (in Germany) reveals itself in the active 
interest shown in theosophy, Christian Science, Astrol- 
ogy, while in some places people are returning to 


[26] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


their churches.’’ (Literary Digest, June 13, 1925). 
Others report a revival of Evangelical teaching. 


WorRLD PROPAGANDA AND REIGN 


This government will cover the world: first, per- 
haps, in form of an international brotherhood of 
workinemen called ‘‘Industrial Democracy’’ and 
labor will be in the saddle as it is in many nations 
to-day. Very soon the asperities of the war will be 
forgotten and even Socialists of France and the labor 
Social party of England will fraternize with similar 
parties in Germany, which will help bring the 
worship or adoration of the world. Satan is a 
ereat counterfeiter, and he will steal every tenet of 
the Christ that he can weave into the fabric of his 
eovernment, so as to deceive the whole world and thus 
bring its homage. The two-horned beast will furnish 
enough miracle stunts and will even take advantage 
of the death-stroke and resurrection of his Anti- 
Christ, to offset that of the death and resurrection of 
Jesus, the Christ (Rev. 13:12). Even in this country 
revolution is being preached on street corners, in halls 
and parlors. A strong propaganda is being carried 
on by what the late Mr. Samuel Gompers described 
as ‘‘Radical intellectuals, University graduates, Bou- 
doir Socialists and professional Anarchists, Rainbow- 
chasing Socialists and professional phrase-makers ;’’ 
and we would add to this medley the Modernistic 
Clergy and some College Professors, to bring about 


[27] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the reign of this ‘‘Lawless One.’’ But it will not 
sueceed in ‘‘America,’’ which is God’s ‘‘Prepared 
Place’’ and has enough ‘‘ Evangelical Faith’’ to pre- 
serve it from the ‘‘Lawless One’’ (Rey. 12:6, 13-17; 
13:8, the ‘‘blood’’ line). That which was so threaten- 
ing one year ago is almost entirely wiped out by re- 
cent events. 


SHort DuRATION 


When Jesus comes with His saints, He is to destroy - 
this ‘‘Lawless One’’ (II Thess. 2:8) as it is described 
in Rev. 19:11-21. It is this very beast government 
that is to ‘‘war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall 
overcome them, for He is Lord of Lords and King of 
Kings’’ (Rev. 17:14). But this last beast is of short 
duration. ‘‘There was given to him to continue forty 
and two months’’ (Rey. 18:5), which is three and a 
half years. Daniel gives him ‘‘a time, times and half 
a time,’’ which is twelve hundred and sixty days, or 
three and a half years (Dan. 7:25, ef. Rev. 12:6 and 
vs. 14). 


HEAVEN’S REDEMPTIVE WoRK 


But while the most of the world runs after the beast 
and does him homage, yet in Rev. 14:6-16 we see that 
heaven is counteracting Satan in the proclamation of 
‘‘the eternal good tidings unto them that dwell upon 
the earth,’’ and in the warnings given (Rev. 14:9-11) 
and the harvest scene (Rev. 14:14-16, 15:2). Many 


[28] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


things appear in a careful exegesis of Rev. 12:6, 14, 
that show the United States will have enough of 
Christianity, that will right up the old ship, even 
though it may leer for a time. This great Republic 
is certainly ‘‘a place prepared in a_ wilderness”’ 
(which it was three hundred years ago) and will be 
ready to bear on her ‘‘two wings (fleets in air and 
sea) of a great eagle’’ (Rev. 12:14) the persecuted 
woman for her nourishment: for three and one-half 
years, until Jesus comes with his saints. This Sun- 
clad woman, we assume, is God’s nominal church, who 
like the five foolish virgins were unprepared when 
the ‘‘Overcomers,’’ the man-child—‘‘was caught up 
unto God and unto his throne’’ (Rev. 12:1-6, 2:26, 
27: Matt. 25:1-18). The United States is already 
showing a beneficent spirit to troubled Kurope and 
Asia, while refusing to become a participant in their 
political intrigues and quarrels. She is, very wisely, 
shutting out the hordes of immigrants that Satan 
desires to pour upon her territory. In Rey. 12:15 we 
read that ‘‘The serpent cast out of his mouth after 
the woman water as a river, that he might cause her 
to be carried away by the stream.’’ As water means 
‘‘neoples, multitudes, ete.,’’ (Rev. 17:15), this indi- 
eates that Satan will undertake to flood America with 
hordes from Southern Europe and Asia, especially 
Asia, which is spoken of as ‘‘The kings that come 
from the EAST”’ (Rev. 16:12); who will try to 
change the constitution and laws that protect God’s 


[29] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


people from the Beast. These are China, Japan and 
India, ete., which we have noticed would form an 
important part of the Beast government. But we 
read that ‘‘The earth helped the woman and opened 
her mouth and swallowed up the river’’ (Rev. 12:16). 
This indicates that this help will come by natural 
means, such as war, pestilences, famines, earthquakes, 
ete. By such means the earth has already swallowed 
them up by the tens of millions within a decade. 

For times such as these the second Psalm was writ- 
ten. 


“Why do the nations rage and the peoples meditate a 
vain thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the 
rulers take counsel together, against Jehovah, and against 
His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bonds asunder 
and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the 
heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision” 


(Ps. 2:1-4). 


But heaven pleads ‘‘ Kiss the Son lest He be angry.”’ 
‘‘Blessed are all they that take refuge in Him’’ (vs. 
12). 

There can be no doubt about the final outcome. 
Those ‘‘that come off victorious from the beast’’ will 
‘‘with the harps of God’’ sing; 


“Great and marvellous are Thy works, O Lord God, the 
Almighty. 

Righteous and true are Thy ways, Thou King of the ages. 

Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? 


[30] 


lip 


Li; 


. ‘‘Blasphemes 


. ‘*Overcomes 


. Builds 


.'Continues 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


For Thou only art holy: for all the nations shall come and 
worship before Thee: 
For Thy righteous acts have been made manifest” (Rev. 


15 :2-4). 


John in Revelation 
‘*The Beast’’ 


.**The Number of a 


Man’’ (13:18) 


.Comes up out of the 


abyss and goes into 
meet CUTS sy ii 
q 


.By Satanic Power 


(sno) 


God’’ 
(13:6) 


. ‘Great mouth and 


words’’ (13:2, 6) 


the 
Saints’’ (13:7) 


. ‘*Works great Signs’’ 


(13:13) 


Image for 
Worship (13:14, 15) 


A2 
months’’ 34 years 
(St 512) <6) Le) 


“Destroyed at 
Christ’s Coming’’ 
(17:14; 19:19-21) 


J purned sein | ore,” 
(Rev. 19:20) 


THE ANTI-CHRIST 


Daniel 
‘*TMhe Little Horn’’ 
‘‘Eyes of a Man’’ (7:8) 


‘‘Destroyed in fire of 
perdition’’ (7:11, 26) 


‘‘Different from the 
others’’ (7:24, 21) 


‘*Blasphemes the Most 


High’’ (7:25) 


‘*‘Mouth, speaking great 
WOLGSmaen is Owen bere 
25) 


‘*Made war with the 
saints’’ (7:25) 


‘‘Changes Times and 
Laws’’ (7:25) 


‘*Abomination 
makes desolate’’ 
11:34; 12:11) 


‘fA time, 
half—3% years’’ 
12:7) 


‘SS latne oat. Ohnrist:s 
Coming’’ (7:11, 13) 


that 
(S227 


times and a 
Cf PAD 


‘*Burned with fire’’ (7: 
italy) 


[31] 


Paul in 2 Thess. 
2:1-10 


‘*The Lawless One’’ 
Wee MAN of sin’’ (2: 
3 


‘‘The Son of Perdition’’ 
(2733)) 


‘*Working of Satan’’ 
(2:9) 


‘‘Opposeth God’’ ete. 
(2:4) 


‘‘Hxalteth himself above 
God’’ (2:4,10) 


‘*Signs and Lying Won- 
ders’’ (2:9) 


‘Sits in the Temple of 
God’’ (2:4) 


Develops just _ before 
Christ’s coming (2:3, 7) 


Slain by Christ at his 
coming (2:8) 


‘‘In flaming fire’’ (2nd 
Thess. 1:7, 8 cf. 2:8) 


CHAPTER V 
The False Prophet 


Rev. 13:11-18; 16:13; 19:20 


“And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; 
and he had two horns like unto a lamb and he spake as a 
dragon. And he exerciseth all the authority of the first 
beast in his sight. And he maketh the earth and them that 
dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose death-stroke 
was healed. And he doeth great signs that he should even 
make fire to come down out of heaven upon the earth in 
the sight of men. And he deceiveth them that dwell on 
the earth by reason of the signs which it was given him to 
do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on 
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast who 
hath the stroke of the sword and lived. And it was given 
unto him to give breath to it, even to the image of the beast, 
that the image of the beast should both speak and cause 
that as many as should not worship the image of the beast 
should be killed. And he causeth all, the small and the 
great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, 
that there be given them a mark on their right hand or 
upon their forehead; and that no man should be able to 
buy or to sell save he that hath the mark, even the name 
of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. 
He that hath understanding, let him count the number of 
the beast; for it is the number of a man, and his number 
is six hundred and sixty and six” (Rev. 13:11-18). 


E SEE from the above scripture that this first 
beast has a contemporary—a beast with ‘‘two 


[32] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


horns like unto a lamb’’ showing its religious nature, 
which is also shown by its work in eausing all to 
worship and by its title ‘‘The False Prophet’’ (Rev. 
13:12, 16:13; 19:20). ‘‘It exerciseth all the author- 
ity of the first beast in his sight,’’ furnishing the 
religion that man’s nature demands and which Satan 
delights to provide. It is not necessary to think of 
‘‘the false prophet’’ as an individual, but rather as 
a bureau of religion and education, the ‘‘two horns,”’ 
which may head up into Secretaries, which become 
religious potentates, that are set up to control the 
religions of the world. This Two-horned beast stands 
for a political, religious power, but it must be dis- 
tinguished from the harlot—Babylon, who is de- 
stroyed under the reign of these two beasts (Rev. 
17: 16-18; ef. Rev. 16:13; 19:20). 


Or THE EartH, EARTHY 


This beast ‘‘comes up out of the earth’’ and not 
out of the sea, the people, as did the other beast; 
which shows that its religion is an Hvolution out of 
the earth, and not a Revelation from heaven. He 
even ‘‘maketh the earth to worship the first beast 
whose death-stroke was healed’’ (vs. 12). It is an 
Agnostic in matters of heaven or ‘‘from above,’’ but 
dogmatic and very assertive in things of the earth 
or from beneath. It spends its time in studying 
Biology, Protoplasm, and ascertaining the weight of 
an electron, ete., ete., from which it draws its in- 


[33] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


spiration. Science is its God, Evolution is its ‘‘work- 
ing basis’’ and its ‘‘assured results’’ (?) is its au- 
thoritative Bible. It ‘‘is of the earth, earthy’’ (John 
3:6, 1 Cor. 15: 47-50). It is ‘‘like unto a lamb’’ in 
appearance only; for ‘‘he spake as a dragon.’’ It is 
more intolerant than the first beast (Rev. 13:15), 
which is characteristic of ‘‘Free Thinkers’’ and 
‘*Liberals,’’—liberal in giving away God’s revealed 
truths, but very bitter toward Evangelical Chris- 
tianity. It will include the ‘‘theosophies’’ and 
‘‘cults’’ of the East and may come at last under their 
control. 


SATAN’S COUNTERFEIT TRINITY 


Satan is an old counterfeiter. His ‘‘Trinity’’ is 
himself as the Father; the beast is the Antichrist, 
and instead of the Holy Spirit, ‘‘the Paraclete,’’ he 
has this ‘‘false prophet’’ as the religious director. 
He works miracles to offset those of Jesus, which 
were Christ’s credentials from heaven. He ‘‘even 
makes fire to come down out of heaven upon the 
earth in the sight of men,’’ and ‘‘he deceiveth’’ the 
gaping crowds, saying to them, ‘‘That they should 
make an image to this beast, who hath the stroke of 
the sword and lived.’” From the magicians of 
Egypt to the spirit-possessed medium of today, 
Satan has always used his occult power to work 
miracles. 


[34] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


SPIRITISM 


As the unrest and uncertainty of coming events 
become more and more acute, the more will people 
turn to spirit mediums, clairvoyants, ete. They will 
discover that it is not all a fake, but a fateful reality. 
Right here les its great danger. It is playing with 
fire that proceeds from ‘‘the pit.’’ For one to tam- 
per with this occult power, he will soon enmesh him- 
self in Satan’s web to be led captive at his will, and 
to receive at last Satan’s fearful doom (Rev. 20:10- 
15, Mat. 25:41). Paul as well as John ascribes the 
power of this beast government to Satan. Already 
do we read of wonderful revelations that come 
through mediums, who will find their greatest dupes 
among the idle rich and educated unbelievers and 
some brilliant minds, who have run wild because 
they are not anchored in Christ. Spiritism will en- 
roll among its devotees scientists like Sir Oliver 
Lodge, and authors like Conan Doyle, ete., while all 
Modernists and Liberals already show toward it a 
friendly attitude and it will play an important part 
in the religion of the false prophet. Paul’s descrip- 
tion will be carried out in full. ‘‘Whose coming is 
according to the workings of Satan, with all power 
and signs and lying wonders and with all deceit of 
unrighteousness, for them that perish because they 
receive not the love of the truth, that they might be 
saved’’ (2 Thess. 2:9-12). 


[35] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


WORSHIP OF THE IMAGE 


We have noticed that this beast that ‘‘received the 
stroke of the sword and lived’’ was the fifth head, 
the French Revolution (A. D. 1792-95). Under this 
first regime a fleshly image, a live courtesan, was 
worshipped as ‘‘the goddess of Reason’’—so how 
natural it will be for this same head when he ‘‘comes 
up out of the abyss’’ to have erected a great statue, 
not for some king, or general, but to be the image 
of the government (beast) which they adore. Just 
as soon as men reject God and his restraining love, 
they turn back into idolatry. Paul.speaks of this 
time as well as of his own, when he says ‘‘Profess- 
ing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and 
changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the 
likeness of an image of corruptible man’’ (Rom. 
1:22, 23). The people worshipping their government 
as a brotherhood of nations with militarism elimi- 
nated, or professed to be, will gladly comply with 
the mandate of ‘‘the False Prophet’’ who will not 
only give breath to the image, but that it ‘‘should 
both speak and cause that as many as should not 
worship the image of the beast should be killed.’’ 

The edict ‘‘to kill’? comes forth from the image 
in his speech that Satan inspires it to make, which 
adds to its authority. Probably this image is set up 
in the temple that has been built by the 144,000 
sealed Israelites (Rev. 7:3-8, 11:1-2; II Thess. 2:4) 


[36] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


and which is defended by the ‘‘two witnesses’’ until 
they are slain by this same ‘‘beast that cometh up 
out of the abyss’’ (Rev. 11:7). Probably the 144,000 
‘‘sealed ones’’ are ‘‘the saints’’ that this beast 
makes war upon and ‘‘overcomes them’’ (Rev. 13:7; 
12:17; Dan. 7:21). If so, then Jesus describes this 
time in Mat. 24:15-22, Mk. 13 :14-20; which is doubly 
fulfilled, viz..—in the destruction of Jerusalem and 
the escape of the Christians in A. D. 70, and then at 
this later period, in the ‘‘ Abomination of desolation 
standing where it ought not,’’ which is this image 
that is set up by this two beast government (cf. Dan. 
9:27, 12:11; 2 Thess. 2:4, etc.) and the terrible deso- 
lation is described in Rev. 16:18-19 when ‘‘the cities 
of the nations fell’’ etc. 


Tue Buoop LINE 


This religious power that has the ‘‘two horns like 
a lamb,’’ and its adherents, are composed of all those 
‘‘whose name hath not been written from the founda- 
tion of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that 
hath been slain’’ (Rev. 13:8). This Slain Lamb pre- 
sents the line of demarcation that is emphasized in 
the whole Bible; viz:—‘‘ Apart from the shedding of 
blood there is no remission’’ (Heb. 9:22). ‘‘ Jehovah 
had respect unto Abel and to his offering’’ ‘‘as a 
more excellent sacrifice,’’ because it was ‘‘of the 
firstlings of his flock’? (Gen. 4:4, Heb. 11:4). And 
this blood line runs from the foundation of the world 


[37] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


to the end; and Abel’s name and all others that 
come under the blood ‘‘of the Lamb that hath been 
slain’’ ‘‘are written in the book of life of the Lamb”’ 
(Rev. 18:8). All unbelievers of whatever name, be 
they called ‘‘Agnostics’’ ‘‘Liberals’’ or ‘‘Destruc- 
tive Critics’’ ete., and professed church members 
who may have a semblance and even some of the 
virtues of Christianity, if they do not accept the 
atoning blood of Jesus, have no part with Him. AIl- 
ready the line of cleavage is very clearly discerned, 
for we see church members of ‘‘the broad gauge’’ 
type are running neck and neck with other Socialists 
to be leaders in the new age. Some are Radicals, 
while many sympathize with the Russian-Soviet gov- 
ernment. 


Aut RELIGIONS WELCOMED 


As this is a world government, all religions will be 
welcomed—Spiritualists, Moslems, Hindus, Bud- 
dhists, Confucianists, Jews, etc., who will have free 
course under the League of Nations. When Satan 
siezes these last three heads to form his eighth world 
government, which comes at last under the control 
of the Radical Socialists, who blaspheme GOD and 
His religion, Satan will welcome representatives 
from all religions that will endorse the ‘‘Reds’’ or 
the Radicals with hearty support. So all the bigotry 
and hatred that was shown against God in the French 
Revolution and is now so manifest in the Bolsheviki 


[38] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


of Russia will be intensified by religious fanatics 
from every religious cult that will give allegiance to 
this religious bureau under this Satanic government. 
When the edict goes forth from the image that ‘‘as 
many as should not worship the image of the beast 
should be killed,’’ while many will be under great 
distress and ‘‘the saints’’ (the 144,000 sealed ones) 
will be slain (Rev. 13:7; 12:17), yet there is a great 
religious system called ‘‘the Harlot’’ whose name 
‘‘ig Babylon the Great’’ (Rev. 17:5) that will re- 
fuse to bow to this mandate, and which will be 
utterly destroyed by the two beasts government. 


Haruot DESTROYED 


‘‘And the ten horns which thou sawest and the 
beast, these shall hate the harlot, and shall make her 
desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall 
burn her utterly with fire. For God did put in their 
hearts to do His mind, and to come to one mind, and 
to give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words 
of God should be accomplished’’ (Rev. 17:16, 17). 

The beast and the ten kings, or governments, turn 
with hatred and fury upon the harlot and destroy 
her in one day (Rev. 18:8). This shows that two 
false political and religious powers or systems meet 
in deadly conflict for the supremacy, but the two 
beast government is too strong for ‘‘the harlot.’’ 
The destruction is so frightful that ** the kings of 


[39] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the earth’’ and ‘‘the merchants of the earth’’ ‘‘who 
were made rich by her’’ ‘‘and every shipmaster and 
mariner, aS many as gain their living by the Sea’’ 
‘feast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and 
mourning, saying Woe, Woe, the great city’’ (Rev. 
18:9, 11, 15, 17-19). The Harlot, named Babylon, 
stands for the ‘‘Great Apostasy’’ and the false re- 
ligions that grow out of her. She must be dis- 
tinguished from The False Prophet, who is not de- 
stroyed until he is overthrown by Christ and His 
Bridal Army, when they come to take possession of 
the earth (Rev. 19:11, 14, 19-20). An apostate 
church brings upon it the anathemas of heaven 
(Mat. 23 :35-36). It poisons the water of life flowing 
out from God’s throne; scuttles the ship that is sent 
out to rescue the drowning and paralyzes the hand 
that is reaching out to save. Mighty hallelujahs, 
three times repeated, are heard in heaven, over the 
destruction of the harlot (Rev. 19:1-4) for every- 
thing is clearing away for the Return of the KING 
and His glorified Bride, who shall possess the earth 
in Righteousness and Peace. The False Prophet is 
so interwoven with the Beast government that they 
are not only co-workers but are also coterminous 
(Rev. 18:12; 16:13; 19:20). It is not so with the 
Harlot—Babylon. She is their mortal foe. Already 
these tremendous forces are lining up for world su- 
premacy. Their hatred is intense and mutual even 


[40] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


now. When the harlot begins to say ‘‘in her heart I 
sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall in no wise 
see mourning’’ that is, she is about to discard her 
weeds of widowhood, and seize the temporal power, 
then her wily foe, the Beast and False Prophet and 
the ten federated kingdoms shall utterly destroy 
her as described in Rev. 18 :6-24; 17:16,17. When the 
Great Apostate church and her children that have 
used their power to make abortive every program 
of God for real Christian Union, and thus the salva- 
tion of the world, are utterly destroyed; and the 
False Prophet, who with the Beast has shown the 
utter futility of trying to produce a kingdom of 
Righteousness and Peace by a Natural Religion — 
‘‘coming up out of the earth’’; then all peoples will 
be ready to welcome with great Joy, when they behold 
with the Beloved John, 

‘“The Holy City Jerusalem, coming down out of 
heaven from God, having the glory of God.’’ ‘‘And 
the city hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon, 
to shine upon it: for the glory of God did lighten it 
and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations 
shall walk amidst the light thereof: and the kings 
of the earth bring their glory into it. And the gates 
thereof shall in no wise be shut by day (for there 
shall be no night there) and they shall bring the 
glory and honor of the nations into it.’’ ‘‘And there 
shall be no curse any more; and the throne of God 


[41] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


and of the Lamb shall be therein: and His servants 
shall serve Him; and they shall see His face, and 
they shall reign for ever and ever’’ (Rev. 21:10; 
22:5). Hallelujah! Amen! 


[42] 


CHAPTER VI 


Armageddon :—The Two Beasts Slain 
by Christ’s Coming 


“And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the great river, 
the river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, 
that the way might be made ready for the kings that come 
from the sunrising (Kast). And I saw coming out of the 
mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, 
and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean 
spirits as it were frogs: for they are spirits of demons, 
working signs; which go forth unto the kings of the whole 
world to gather them together unto the war of the great 
day of God, the Almighty. (Behold, I come as a thief, 
blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest 
he walk naked, and they see his shame.) And they gath- 
ered them together unto the place which is called in Hebrew, 
Har-Magedon.” (Rev. 16:12-16.) 


“And I saw the heaven opened; and behold a white horse, 
and He that sat thereon called Faithful and True; and in 
righteousness He doth judge and make war.” “He is ar- 
rayed in a garment sprinkled with blood; and His name is 
called ‘The Word of God.’ And the armies which are in 
heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine 
linen white and pure,” “And He hath on His garments and 
on His thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of 
Lords.” “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, 
and their armies, gathered together to make war against 
Him that sat upon the horse and against His army. And 


[43] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that 
wrought the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them 
that had received the mark of the beast and them that wor- 
shipped his image; they too were cast alive into the lake of 
fire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were killed 
with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even the 
sword which came forth out of his mouth: and all the birds 
were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:11, 13-14, 16, 19-21). 


HE foregoing is a graphic account of the com- 

plete destruction of the Beast and False Prophet 
by the Return of THE CHRIST as the KING OF 
GLORY. This is the ‘‘Battle of ARMAGEDDON.”’ 
It is not fought by wordly forces contending against 
each other, but by the armies ‘‘of the whole world”’ 
(Rev. 16:14), ‘‘gathered together to make war 
against Him that sat upon the horse and against His 
army’’ (19:19). These world forces are gathered by 
a subtile propaganda that goes forth like ‘‘spirits 
of Demons working signs.’’ It is uncanny—‘un- 
elean spirits, as it were frogs’’— slippery, when 
‘handled and dive, when seen, into their own scum of 
the swamp. It is the spirit of the treacherous Turk 
and the atheistic Bolsheviki as it works among all 
nations even to-day. Imagine the slimy, frog-like 
spirit, that now comes out of Russia going among 
‘‘the Kings of the East’’; China, now torn by eivil 
war and generally unsettled, India with her dissatis- 
fied millions, Japan with her sensitive but ambitious 
people, Arabia, already agitated with fanatical zeal 


[44] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


over the strife for the caliphate, Egypt and the 
Soudan, though repressed by England, yet resentful 
in spirit, and the Balkan states which are like a 
tinder box; and you have the best interpretation of 
Rev. 16 :12-14. 


REMOVING OF TURKISH EMPIRE 


As water means people (Rev. 17:15), the drying 
up of the Euphrates is generally interpreted to mean 
the removal of the Turkish Empire. Turkey has al- 
ways been a barrier to Moslem invasion as she 
wished to keep on good terms with Europe and was 
satisfied to hold Constantinople, the natural capitol 
of the old world. But the Turkish empire has van- 
ished and the Young Turks that hold what is left are 
rapidly secularizing Turkey under the rule of 
Mustafa Kemal, which will greatly affect the Mos- 
lem World. They have deposed and banished their 
Caliph, Abdul Medjid; separated their state and 
schools from the Moslem religion, thus removing the 
barriers that have stood in the way of a full co- 
operation with the Russian government, which is 
‘“‘Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh’’ 
(Russia) (Ezek. 38:8). 


Russia GATHERS THE ARMIES 


In Ezek 38 :3-39:4, God describes the gathering of 
these hordes by Russia from ‘‘Persia, Cush and Put, 
Gomer and all his hordes; The house of Togarmah in 


[45 ] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


the uttermost parts of the North and all his hordes; 
even many peoples with thee’’ (Ezek. 38:5, 6). He 
also describes how this propaganda of Satan works, 
‘*It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall 
come into thy mind and thou shalt devise an evil 
device (Rev. 16:18) and thou shalt say, ‘I will go up 
to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them 
that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them 
dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor 
gates’ ’’ (Ezek. 38:10, 11). 

There is no doubt that these ‘‘unwalled villages, 
having neither bars nor gates,’’ is a Restored Pales- 
tine (Ezek. 88:8, 14). There is also no doubt but 
that Palestine is being rapidly restored by the Zion- 
ist Movement and the Jewish Colonization Associa- 
tion, and after God’s drastic dealings with them, 
they will become as described in Ezek. 36:9-12, 
24-28 (ef.’ Rom. 11:25, 26, Rev. 7:38-8; Eph.-1:138: 
4:30). This Restoration is being described in all the 
magazines and newspapers. 

These statements in Ezekiel, describing these cities 
as without walls etc., prove that this prophecy has 
not yet been fulfilled and also is a strong proof of 
their inspiration; for unwalled cities were unknown 
in Ezekiel’s day. ‘‘It shall come to pass in the latter 
days’’ (38:16, 17). Ezek. 38:18 describes the remon- 
strance sent out by Great Britain ‘‘The Common- 
wealth of Nations’? which are ‘‘The Young lions 
thereof’’ which may include the United States. This 


[46] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


‘Restoration of the Jews to Palestine’’ is an assured 
thing and is one of the great results of the ‘‘ World 
War’’ and will be accomplished under the Seventh 
head—The League of Nations. 


UNIVERSAL PEACE UNDER LEAGUE oF NATIONS 


Under the government of the League of Nations— 
the seventh head—the world becomes quieted and 
comes under a nominal peace. It is ‘‘the little time’”’ 
that the Martyrs are told to rest (Rev. 6:11), which 
follows the convulsions of a world-war, famines and 
pestilences, that are described under the breaking 
of the second, third and fourth seals, which are al- 
ready broken (Rev. 6:3-8; ef. Luke 21:10, 11). This 
seventh head also only ‘‘continues a little while’’ 
(Rev. 17:10). It is ‘‘after the tribulation of those 
days’’ (Matt. 24:29) when ‘‘they are saying peace 
and safety’’ that Jesus ‘‘comes as a thief in the 
night’’ (I Thess. 5:2, 3). It is when they ‘‘are 
marrying and giving in marriage’’ (Matt. 24:38) 
that ‘‘they shall see the Son of man coming on the 
clouds of heaven with power and great glory”’ 
(Matt. 24:30). Jesus says ‘‘as it came to pass in 
the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, 
they sold, they planted, they builded (making ready 
for future crops and homes) ; after the same manner 
shall it be in the day that the Son of man is re- 
vealed’’ (Luke 17:28-30). These stipulations that 


[47] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


Jesus gives concerning the days of Noah and Lot, 
show peaceful, and not turbulent times. 


‘“‘BeHoutp I Come AS A THIEF’’ 


He is to come ‘‘as a thief,’’ unexpectedly. ‘‘In an 
hour that ye think not, the Son of man -cometh’”’ 
(Matt. 24:44). It will be when mockers are saying, 
‘‘Where is the promise of His coming? for, from 
the day that the fathers fell asleep all things con- 
tinue as they were from the beginning of the crea- 
tion’’ (II Pet. 3:4). So Jesus, in giving to John 
the symbols to describe this propaganda of Satan 
among the governments of the earth, bursts forth in 
His warning ‘‘ Behold I come as a thief’’ (Rev. 16:15 
ef. Matt. 24:43; I Thess. 5:2, 3). It is not neces- 
sary to think that Jesus meant that He was coming 
‘fas a thief’’ after the armies are gathered, but at — 
the beginning of or during this hellish propaganda, 
He would come unexpectedly even to His elect. It 
would take much time for this propaganda to take 
effect and the armies to gather, which He will de- 
stroy when He comes, not as a thief, but as a mighty 
Conqueror (Rev. 19:11-21). Jesus says in Luke 
(21 :27-28) ‘‘But when these things begin to come to 
pass, look up and lift up your heads because your 
redemption draweth nigh.’’ 


Our UNPREPAREDNESS FEARED By JESUS 
The unexpectedness of Christ’s appearing in the 
cloud and our unpreparedness for the event was so 


[48] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


upon Christ’s heart, that He burst forth continually, 
when speaking of His return, ‘‘Behold I come as a 
thief.’’ ‘‘If the Master of the house had known in 
what watch the thief was coming he would have 
watched’’ (Matt. 24:43). He was to come suddenly 
like the flood, like the fire upon Sodom. ‘‘Remem- 
ber Lot’s wife!’’ is His startling ery. He likened it 
unto a snare springing suddenly; ‘‘for so shall it 
come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the 
earth’’ (Luke 21:34, 35). ‘‘One is taken, the other 
is left.’’ Over and over again, He says ‘‘ Watch and 
pray for ye know not when the time is.’’ ‘‘ And what 
I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch’’ (Mk. 13:38, 
37). He says with seeming sadness ‘‘ Nevertheless, 
when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on 
the earth?’’ (Luke 18:8). 

He feared that there would be great indifference 
and a lack of preparedness among those, who ought 
to have their ‘‘loins girded about’’ and ‘‘lamps 
burning’’ as ‘‘men looking for their Lord’’ (Luke 
12:35, 36). It ought to move us mightily to read this 
parenthetical warning, given at this time, as He 
thinks of the ‘‘Shame’’ and impotency of those who 
were ‘‘not ready’’ but have ‘‘to walk’’ before the 
jeering, godless multitudes—unclothed—without the 
garments that ‘‘the caught up ones’’ are wearing 
before the throne (Rev. 16:15; 7:9; 19:8). The par- 
able of the ‘‘Ten Virgins’’ was told to show that 
many church-members—one-half—might not be pre- 


[49] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


pared to enter in, when the Bridegroom appeared 
(Matt. 25:1-12). ‘‘ Watch therefore, for ye know not 
the day nor the hour’’ (Vs. 12) is Jesus’ only com- 
ment. 


THe Waite Horse Riper AND His Army 


After describing the gathering of the armies of the 
world for the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:14-16), 
the narration of events stops for the angel to show 
to John ‘‘Babylon the Harlot’’ and her utter de- 
struction and the rejoicing in heaven over it (Rev. 
17:1-19:10). Then in (Rev. 19:11-21), we have the 
descending of Christ and His Bridal Army to destroy 
completely the Beast and False Prophet and the 
Federated armies of the world (Rev. 19:19-21). This 
picture, among the striking symbols of John’s visions, 
is the most wonderful of all. This scene describes the 
culminating battle, that ends a war that has raged 
fiercely for nearly six thousand years upon this earth. 
Heaven and hell, Christ and Satan, Right and wrong, 
have been the contestants in this stupendous conflict ; 
but it ends in the utter destruction of the evil forces 
of Earth and Hell. | 

Without doubt, the army that comes with Christ 
out of heaven is His Elect Bride. She has the cloth- 
ing of the bride (Rev. 19:7, 8, 14) and she has 
Christ’s promise (Rev. 3:21) to sit with Him and 
reign (see Dan. 7:27, 28 II Tim. 2:12), and also to 


[50] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


have authority over the nations and to rule them 
with a rod of iron (Rev. 2:26, 27 cf. 12:5; 19:15). 


ALL FALSE STATES AND RELIGIONS DESTROYED 


This battle of Armageddon ends in the utter de- 
struction of ALL false governments and religions. 
The Harlot, Babylon—the great Apostasy, ‘‘has been 
utterly destroyed by the Beast and Federated gov- 
ernments’’ (Rev. 17:16-17). The false prophet, con- 
sisting of a great ‘‘falling away’’ into infidelity in 
these ‘‘last days,’’ and pseudo-christians uniting 
with all religious cults, to form a ‘‘ World Religion’’ 
to keep pace with a ‘‘ World State,’’—which religion 
is ‘‘Natural’’ or ‘‘comes up out of the earth’’ (Rev. 
18:11), is also utterly destroyed. It, the great de- 
eeiver (Rev. 19:20) and the Beast—‘‘they two were 
east into the lake of fire that burneth with brim- 
stone.’’ ‘‘The rest (the gathered armies) were killed 
with the sword of HIM that sat upon the horse, even 
the sword which came forth out of HIS mouth’’ 
(vs. 21). Paul says ‘‘And then shall be revealed 
the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with 
the breath of His mouth, and bring to nought by the 
manifestation of His coming’’ (II Thess. 2:8) and 
‘‘at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven 
with the angels of His power in flaming fire, render- 
ing vengeance to those that know not God, and to 
them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus:”’ 
‘‘when He shall come to be glorified in His saints’’ 


[51] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


(II Thess. 1:7-10). Daniel (7:11) says ‘‘I beheld 
even till the beast was slain and its body destroyed, 
and it was given to be burned with fire.’’ God says 
through Ezekiel (38:22) ‘‘And I will rain upon him 
and upon his hordes and upon the many peoples that 
are with him an overflowing shower, and great hail- 
stones, fire and brimstone’’ (see Rev. 16:17-21). All 
of these strong figures are used to show the utter de- 
struction of the Beast and false prophet, and their 
dupes the federated armies of the world. Note: The 
figure of fire (if it be a figure) is used by Ezekiel, 
Daniel, Paul and Jesus through John in the Apoca- 
lypse. The only part that Jesus the Christ has in it, is 
to use ‘‘the sword of His mouth,’’ which Paul calls 
‘the breath of His mouth’’ that is, He gives command 
and ‘‘the angels of His power in flaming fire,’’ who 
come with Him (II Thess. 1:7; ‘‘Armies’’ Rev. 
19:14) do the work as they did to Sennacharib’s 
hosts (II Kings 19:35), God co-operating by natural 
forces (Ezek. 38:22). In this work the Bride, 
though clothed in pure white, ‘‘shall also overcome’’ 
(Rev. 17:14; 19:14). Our glorious King and His 
lovely Bride destroy these evil forces as all kings do, 
by using their agencies of power. Even the sword 
of the King is not in His hand, but in His mouth and 
His army is in bridal array. 

The recent hysteria of Dr. Dieffenbach of Boston, 
the editor of the Christian Register (Unitarian), and 
the Modernists in general, over these quotations: 


[52] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


and in their professed fear of what the Fundamental- 
ists might do, would be ludicrous in the extreme, if 
they were not about matters that are so serious. And 
now the Modernists are raising this great commotion 
in Dayton, Tennessee over a law that would prevent 
an unsophisticated teacher from teaching evolution 
in the common schools of that State. Do these Mod- 
ernists wish to support that callow youth in trying 
to teach for science that which is yet only an hy- 
pothesis? What right has he to take precious time 
for which he is hired to teach helpful truths and 
squander it on a theory of which he has no real 
knowledge, and in support of which no tangible evi- 
dence has been produced, and concerning which 
none of its adherents can even define to the satisfac- 
tion of an average audience? There is no conflict 
between true science and the Bible account of crea- 
tion. All of this talk about that trial being a contest 
between religion and science is the merest bun- 
ecombe. And these allusions to the ‘‘return of fag- 
gots and bigotry’’ and the terrors of the Spanish 
Inquisition, because these devout Christians of Ten- 
nessee want to protect their children from the in- 
sidious poison that lurks in this wnsupported theory 
of evolution is extremely ridiculous. In one thing 
these Modernists are consistent, even if not wise, and 
that is in putting forward as their champion a con- 
fessed agnostic—a noted criminal lawyer to defend 
their cause. If they are satisfied, we will not com- 


[53] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


plain, for it puts this contest in its true light viz., 
Agnosticism or the Bible which. No wonder these 
Modernists object to the court being opened by 
prayer. But these predictions still stand, and the 
daily papers and magazines are saturated with 
events that show the rapid approach of a time of 
peace among all civilized nations, which will be the 
opportune time for the Red-Radicals, who are also 
represented in every nation of the earth to mature 
their plans for capturing the unsuspecting, unpre- 
pared world, just as the Bolsheviki captured Russia 
at the time of the government of a non-resisting, 
peace-seeking people under Kerensky. But just 
about this time when ‘‘they are saying peace and 
safety,’’ Christ suddenly appears in the clouds, and 
receives His bride unto Himself, saying, ‘‘Hide thy- 
self for a little moment, until the indignation be 
overpast’’ (Is. 26:20-21). Shall not all Christians 
join heartily in singing that immortal hymn by Juha 
Ward Howe, ‘‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic,”’ 
with its fourfold Hal-le-lu-jahs (cf. Rev. 19:1, 3, 4, 6) 
which is drawn from this imagery of John and which 
Chief Justice Taft says ought to be our national 
hymn? 


“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; 
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of 
wrath are stored: — 


[54] 


THE BEAST AND THE FALSE PROPHET 


He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift 
sword; 
His truth is marching on. Glory! Glory, Hal-le-lu-jah! ! 


“He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call 
retreat ; 

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment 
seat : 

Oh be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant my feet; 

Our God is marching on. Glory! Glory, Hal-le-lu-jah! ! 


“Tn the beauty of the Lilies, Christ was born across the sea; 
With a glory in His bosom, that transfigures you and me. 
As He died to make men holy; let us die to make men free, 
While God is marching on. Glory! Glory, Hal-le-lu-jah!” 


[55] 





Partevk 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR 
FAITH 






eee A 
Ne) 























CHAPTER VII 


The Cross vs. the Red Flag 


“All that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one 
whose name hath not been written from the foundation of 
the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been 
slain” (Rev. 13:8). 


HE above verse placed in the center of the de- 

scription of the two Beasts government, and re- 
peated by the angel in his interpretation in Rev. 17:8 
(cf. Heb. 10:3, 10) shows its significance. All the 
world will worship this Godless, Lawless, Radical, 
Red-government, except those whose names ‘‘hath 
been written in the book of life of the Lamb that hath 
been slain.’’ It is the Red, Reeking, Red Blood of a 
murdered Civilization, put up against the warm, red 
blood, that came from the loving hands and feet and 
side of the Son of man—The Son of God. One, repre- 
senting the helpless, restless, bleeding humanity ; be- 
trayed and misruled by mistaken theorists and selfish 
fanatics; the other, the bleeding Lamb of God pour- 
ing out His life’s blood, so that this helpless humanity 
might be saved. This is the dividing line, and the 
fight is on, and has been ever since Jesus the Son of 
God, cried ‘‘It is Finished!’’ It is the Pride and 
Pomp of self-conceited, self-willed and self-deceived 


[59] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Man, putting his arrogant self up against the CROSS 
OF CHRIST, that stands for man’s humiliation and 
death to self. 


MEANING OF THE CROSS 


What is this cross of Christ in which Paul gloried ? 
It is not the cross that Columbus and the Spaniards 
brought to the New World that went South for con- 
quest and plunder. Neither is it the cross of the 
Crusaders who sacrificed thrones and armies and much 
blood and vast treasures in their vain attempts to 
rescue an empty sepulchre and a land that had long 
since ceased to be holy. Neither is it the crossbeams 
erected on Calvary’s Mount, which, according to a 
silly story, Helena, the mother of Constantine, found 
and divided into pieces and which are even yet kept 
as sacred relics. What would Peter, John, or Paul 
eare for that old instrument of torture? Neither is it 
the cross that is seen everywhere in Russia and on 
churches here and is even worn as an ornament. 


Tue Cross Means Deatu to SELF 


Jesus always looked upon the cross as an instru- 
ment of death. Death to self. He used it to mean this 
for Himself as well as for all His disciples. ‘‘Who- 
soever doth not bear his own cross and come after 
me cannot be my disciple’? (Luke 14:27). ‘‘For 
whosoever would save his life shall lose it: and who- 
soever Shall lose his life for my sake shall find it”’ 


[60] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


(Matt. 16:25). To ‘‘bear his own cross’’ means to 
lose his own life on the cross, so that he may find life 
in the resurrected and glorified Christ reigning within 
(Gal. 2:20). Note, the cross always means death to 
self and not to others, but for others. The Red flag 
of the Commune means death to others but never to 
self. They look upon the cross as a sign of weakness 
and thus despise it. There is all the difference be- 
tween the red blood of the Cross and the Red flag of 
Russia, as there is between heaven and hell. One 
saves, the other destroys. One loses his life for 
Christ’s sake, which brings a reign of LOVE: the 
other would wade through seas of blood to destroy 
the existing order, to put in its place, they know not 
what; for who would trust their bloody hands to build 
anything good. France is running a terrible risk to 
even allow the Red flag to float over the quarters of 
the Russian-Soviet government that she has recog- 
nized. 


ANGLO-SAXON RAcE DELIVERED 


God, in His providence has snatched Great Britain 
out of the Red maw of the dragon and that to the 
delight of her ‘‘Dominions.’’ He has also strength- 
ened the wise policy of the President and Secretary of 
State, of the United States, viz., to let the Russian 
Soviet government severely alone. In these late elec- 
tions the Anglo-Saxon race has spoken with no un- 
certain sound. Whether it is a proof of the ‘‘ Anglo- 


[61] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Israel’’ theory or not, God shows that He will greatly 
use this great race in these last days. ‘‘The Lamb 
that was slain’’ has a powerful grip upon Great 
Britain as is shown in the red thread running through 
every rope in her navy, which fitly expresses the faith 
of her churches in the atonement. Evangelical Chris- 
tianity has a tremendous hold upon the churches in 
America, which includes Canada, and will stand true 
in spite of all destructive critics. They may deceive 
some preachers and college professors, but they can 
not confuse the rank and file of the church, which con- 


tains strong men and women, who study their Bibles 


more than heathen mythology, and stand upon the 
eternal verities of God’s word, rather than upon the 
speculations of fallible men, or upon some half baked 
theories, which pass these days as science. 


WHAT DID THE Cross MEAN TO JESUS ? 


We tremble as we enter the vale of this great mys- 
tery. As we draw aside the curtains of night, to gaze 
upon the prostrate form of the Son of God, we behold 
Him lying on His face, while the sweat oozing from 
the pores of His agonizing body, ‘‘became as it were 
great drops of blood falling down upon the ground”’ 
(Luke 23:44). Our hearts stand still, and shuddering 
we sit down with covered faces. Listen; ‘‘My Father, 
if it be possible let this cup pass away from me: 
nevertheless not as I will but as thou wilt’’ (Matt. 
26:39). What cup? ‘‘This cup is the New Covenant 


[62] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


in my blood,’’ says Jesus (Luke 22:20). ‘‘This cup 
which the Father hath given me shall I not drink it?”’ 
(Jno. 18:11). The cup then, is the excruciating death 
on the cross, the reality of which, broke His heart. 
Listen again! ‘‘My Father, if this cannot pass away 
except I drink it, thy will be done.’’ Oh, the heart 
ery of these three petitions! ‘‘Thy will be done;”’ 
but O, Father, can it not be by some other way? Is 
it not possible, Father? Silence. Then I will drink 
it. ‘‘Thy will be done!’’ He ‘‘offered up prayers 
and supplications with strong crying and tears unto 
Him that was able to save Him from death, and hav- 
ing been heard for His godly fear,’’ that is, the Father 
heard Him, but offered no other way. He as much as 
said the cup may pass if it is possible to find another 
way. He brought no pressure for obedience, but 
eould offer no substitute. We may rest assured that 
the Father’s struggle was equal to that of the Son. 
Their wills were not different. Then Jesus, ‘‘though 
he was a Son’’ (same nature as the Father) said, 
‘*Hather, thy will be done.’’ I will go all the way. 
It being left wholly with Him, ‘‘ He learned obedience 
by the things, which He suffered’’ and thus was ‘‘per- 
fected’’ unto His great task (Heb. 5:7, 8). 


Wuy No OTHER Way? 


But why this strong crying and sweat drops of 
blood? Was Jesus afraid to die, even the terrible 
death of the cross? Did He not say ‘‘Be not afraid 


[63] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


of them that kill the body? (Luke 12:4.) ‘‘If ye 
loved me, ye would rejoice because I said I go unto 
the Father.’’ If death was all it would be a happy 
release. ‘‘I lay down my life that I may take it again. 
No one taketh it away from me’’ (Jno. 10:17, 18). It 
was His own free gift. Millions have died the most 
excruciating deaths. Was not Jesus as brave as these? 
Again, why could not the Father find some other 
way? If it was only to express His love, or to act 
as an example, some other way could certainly have 
been found. For answer, let us listen to Christ’s 
ereat Forerunner in his introduction (Jno. 1:29). 
‘“Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of 
the world!’’ When Jesus heard this from the greatest 
of the prophets, He knew what it meant, and must 
have shuddered. He knew that the lamb died instead 
of the sinful Jew and for his sins. But the great 
prophet says I am ‘‘The Lamb of God that taketh 
away the SIN of the WORLD!’’ It was not death 
that brought agony to Jesus, but the terrible thought, 
that He was to take SIN, and that of the whole world 
upon Himself and to TAKH IT AWAY! To become 
the Sin Bearer of the Human Race!! 


JESUS AND THE SERPENT 


‘‘As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, 
even so must the Son of man be lifted up’’ (Jno. 
3:14). The serpent that Moses lifted on a standard 
was brass like the fiery serpents that were stinging 


[64] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


the Jews to death. Why aserpent? Why not a dove? 
It could represent Jesus. Our blessed Lord knew 
why: for He makes this serpent to be a symbol of 
Himself. He knew that just as that serpent, that was 
hfted up, was like the poisonous serpents in the grass, 
so He was to ‘‘be lifted up’’ on the cross to represent 
Sin that was destroying mankind. ‘‘Him who knew 
no sin, He made to be sin on our behalf: that we 
might become the righteousness of God in Him’’ (II 
Cor. 5:21). Again Jesus must have shuddered as He 
told this to Nicodemus. 


JESUS AND THE GREEKS 


When the Greeks said, ‘‘Sir, we would see Jesus’”’ 
(Jno. 12:20, 34), immediately the pangs of Geth- 
semane came upon Christ. He knew that before the 
Greeks could receive Him He must go to the cross. 
‘*Eixcept a grain of wheat fall in the ground and die 
ete.,’’ was His first thought. ‘‘And I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. 
But this He said signifying by what manner of death 
He should die,’’ which was-certainly the cross. ‘‘ Now 
is my soul troubled,’’ He said. ‘‘What shall I say? 
Father save me from this hour,’’ shall I say that? 
But he immediately added, ‘‘But for this cause came 
I unto this hour.’’ Then comes the quick surrender ; 
‘‘Father, glorify thy name.’’ And the Father an- 
swered, ‘‘I have both glorified it, and will glorify it 
again.’’ Here we see the same great soul trouble. 


[65] 


CHAPTER VIII 


The Triumphant Cross 


T is evident that Jesus had a great indescribable 

dread of the cross. He looked upon it with hor- 
ror. His great soul and heart, in fact His whole 
being even to His innermost soul rose up in rebellion 
to its terrible demands. It sounded His loyalty to 
His Father and His love for the Human race, to its 
deepest depth. It required His All to say yes. His 
obedience shows an infinite love for His Father and 
for man lost in sin. We cannot understand it until 
we hear this heart-rending cry on the cross, ‘‘My God, 
My God, why hast THOU FORSAKEN ME?2”’ 
Words of Infinite despair; of Woe indescribable. In 
this cry His Heart broke. It was the piercing cry of 
a lost soul coming out of that midday darkness, while 
the earth rocked beneath and all hell seemed to be 
breaking through. It was the devil’s hour and the 
beating of the bat-wings of demons against the cross 
‘could almost be heard, while the whispering, hissing 
jeers and taunts of hell, joined in with those of ‘‘the 
chief priests mocking Him with the scribes and 
elders’’ who in their arrogance and depravity repre- 
sent fallen man. 


[66] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Note—It is no longer ‘‘My Father’’ but ‘‘My God,”’ 
the great Judge of the universe, who forsakes His Son 
so that the execution of the terrible sentence of death 
could come upon ‘‘The Lamb of God,’’ who has taken 
voluntarily upon Himself, ‘‘the Sin of the World.’’ 
A great ‘‘horror of darkness’’ came over the earth, 
while the earth quaked with fear. What does it all 
mean ? 


RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST 


SIN is one of the most stupendous realities in this 
world. It has not only made a charnal house out of 
this earth, but is the cause of all its tears, groans and 
woes: because of its terrible ravages in the human 
heart, society and state. God’s eternal throne is 
established upon law and justice and His moral law 
is a reflex of His own divine nature. For God to let 
sin go unpunished would dethrone Him as the Gov- 
ernor of the Universe and would outrage His own 
Divine Character and that of every moral being that 
He has created. Sin, in its guilt, power and terrible 
consequences is so interwoven with the human race, 
that every man, woman and child that has reached the 
age of accountability have been brought under its 
terrible curse. ‘‘There is none righteous no, not one.’’ 
What is God going to do with mankind, that stands 
guilty before His holy, eternal law. God’s infinite 
love does not count, for it cannot change man’s guilt, 


[67] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


neither can it change one iota of His righteous law. 
LOVE, instead of removing, makes the guilt more 
poignant and unbearable. But infinite love will seek 
some way, whereby reconciliation can be made. Where 
‘“God might Himself be just and the justifier of him 
that hath faith in Jesus,’’ and this is exactly what 
occurred at the cross. Jesus as ‘‘the Son of man’’— 
Son of mankind, the sinless representative of the 
human race, takes the sinner’s place and dies in his 
stead. The avenging blow of an outraged law that 
was to fall upon sinful man fell upon the Son of man 
instead. The thunders of Sinai, that reverberate 
even more loudly in every guilty conscience, form into 
a thunder bolt of divine Justice and strike the bleed- - 
ing Lamb upon the cross. The pent-up fires of holy 
wrath, that many times came so near to ‘‘breaking 
through,’’ now descend to consume the slain Lamb 
upon the altar of divine love. There was no other 
way. If God had let Law and Justice have its way 
the whole guilty world would have been swept away 
in a besom of destruction. ‘‘For what the law could 
not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God 
sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh 
and for Sin, condemned sin in the flesh’’ (Rom. 8:3). 
‘Who, His own self bare our sins in His own body 
upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might 
live unto righteousness; by His stripes ye are healed’’ 
(I Pet. 2:24). 


[68] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


THE VICTORIES AT THE Cross 


Before God could have a kingdom of Righteousness 
upon this earth, He had to grapple with the dreaded 
monsters, Sin and Death. That He might draw them 
into closer quarters, He withdrew, as it were, open- 
ing up His lines, so that Satan might rush to the 
attack with all his evil forces of earth and hell, so 
that with one mighty stroke, God was able to destroy 
Sin, taking away its awful guilt, its power and do- 
minion over man and to remove its terrible conse- 
quences which was death. He then seized the ‘‘ Jaws 
of Death’’ and broke them asunder, tearing them from 
their sockets, and opened the prison doors and set the 
captive-man-free. God’s moral law was preserved 
intact, even magnified; His Righteousness was vindi- 
cated and His Holiness was kept untarnished, yea, 
more to be worshipped because of the tremendous 
price He had paid to keep it unsullied: while His 
mercy and great compassion toward sinful man shines 
forth with such a radiance, as only such a dark back- 
ground could produce. The more fiendish and cruel 
the deeds and insults of men and devils at the cross, . 
the more does His patience and great Love shine out. 


THE TRIUMPHANT LAMB 
Jesus—the Lamb—was the center of the whole at- 
tack. All the javelins of hate, poisonous fumes from 
venomous words, and scorpion’s stings of hell were 
hurled upon Him, while His body was racked with 


[69] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


the terrible agonies of the cross. Amidst it all, He 
was praying that they might be forgiven; providing 
a home for His mother, whose soul was now being 
pierced by the sword (Luke 2:35), and saving and 
cheering the thief, dying by His side. He endured it 
all, until He entered into the realm of the Condemned 
and Lost, where ‘‘the sin of the world’’ came over 
Him. His Father’s holy character would not permit 
Him to enter into partnership with the sin and guilt 
and condemnation, that His son had taken on Him- 
self as ‘‘The Son of man,’’ so Jesus found Himself 
ALONE; ALONE! ALONE!! Then came the heart- 


rending ery. But it was in this place of ruin and 


death that the Good Shepherd found the sheep that 
was LOST. So here He had to come, ‘‘laying down 
His own life,’’ that He might get under the Lost and 
ruined man, to lift him upon His strong shoulder and 
bear him back to the fold and GOD. 


“Tell me the story of Jesus, 

Write on my heart every word. 

Tell me the story most precious, 
Sweetest that ever was heard. 

Tell of the cross, where they nailed Him, 
Writhing in anguish and pain; 

Tell of the grave where they laid Him; 
Tell how He liveth again. 

Love in that story so tender, 

Clearer than ever I see; 


[70] 


77 — EE Oe ee hl 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Stay, let me weep while you whisper, 
Love paid the ransom for me.” | a 
—Fanny Crospy. 


“See, from His head, His hands, His feet, 
Sorrow and love flow mingled down: 
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, 
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?” 
—Isaac Warts. 


“Oh that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, 
Has a wondrous attraction for me, 
For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, 
To bear it to dark Calvary.” 
—GEORGE BERNARD. 


“Q Thou who died on Calvary 
To save my soul and make me free, 
I consecrate my life to Thee, 


My Saviour and my God.” 
—R. E. Hupson. 


[71] 


CHAPTER Ix 


The All-Conquering Christ 


“T am the Living One: and I was dead, and behold I am 
alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of 
Hades” (Rey. 1:18). 


HIS is the triumphant shout of our glorious Re- 

deemer on the isle of Patmos sixty years after 
His crucifixion. The death of Jesus on the cross is 
however, but a half of the sphere of Man’s redemp- 
tion through Jesus the Christ. ‘‘I came that they 
may have life and may have it abundantly,’’ says 
Jesus. LIFE, abounding life is promised to every 
obedient believer in Christ. ‘‘He that loseth his life 
for My sake shall find it.’’ The death is necessary, 
so that the all conquering life of Christ may flow in 
giving complete victory. THE RESURRECTION 
OF CHRIST IS THE CROWNING fact in the Gospel 
of Christ, which is God’s power to save (I Cor. 15 :2- 
4). Jesus went down into the grave, the city of the 
enemy, that He might arise and come forth, taking 
the ‘‘Gates of Death’’ on His strong shoulders and 
bear them away to the hill of victory. It is this re- 
surrected life of Christ in the soul that differentiates 
the virile, victorious religion of Christ, from the 


[72] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


deadly stagnating religion of Buddha, which Mr. 
H. G. Wells and modernists are trying to revamp. 
Jesus ‘‘The last Adam became a life giving Spirit’’ 
(Cor. 15:45). So when the sinner convicted of sin 
accepts the Christ, he goes to his death in Jesus who 
died in his stead, but he also comes into the life that 
Christ procured for him by His resurrection. This is 
shown even in his consecration in his Baptism (Rom. 
6:3-11). So he becomes a new man in Christ. 
‘‘Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but 
alive unto God in Christ Jesus’’ (Rom. (6:11). ‘‘For 
if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God 
through the death of His Son, much more being recon- 
ciled shall we be saved by His life’? (Rom. 5:10). So 
we are not worshipping a dead Christ, but a living 
elorified Redeemer who is sitting now at the right 
hand of God upon His eternal throne; from whence 
He is about to return with His bride and destroy the 
two beasts and their armies and reign in righteous- 
ness upon this earth. 


THE VICTORIES OF THE GOSPEL 


When Christ went to the Father, He prayed Him 
to send the ‘‘Other Advocate’’—The Holy Spirit, 
who would come and ‘‘convict the world in respect 
of sin of righteousness and of judgment.’’ When 
He came, He took this Gospel, that had been wrought 
out by the death of Christ on the cross, His burial 
and His resurrection (I Cor. 15:2-4) and used it in 


[73] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


great power at Pentecost, when three thousand were 
converted and brought into the kingdom of Grace. 
This number grew to five thousand and then in ever 
increasing numbers, until the church spread through- 
out Samaria, Asia Minor, Africa and Europe over- 
coming all opposition until the Roman emperor him- 
self, bowed to the sceptre of THE Nazarene. Hin- 
dered and weakened by fallible and selfish men, re- 
tarded greatly by false methods: its gentle, persua- 
sive voice muffled by contention and strife; its 
sword that was never forged for carnal warfare 
stained with human blood even to the hilt; and even 
its songs of love and praise were changed to those 
of hate and imprecations; yet it moves on ‘‘ Conquer- 
ing and to conquer.’’ The missionaries of the cross 
are encircling the earth with their glad messages of 
salvation, and the angels song of ‘‘Peace and Good 
Will’’ are being heard and felt around the world. 


JESUS A WoruD EFORCE 


Jesus the Christ is the most tremendous force in 
the world to-day. What a miracle it is, to see on this 
Christmas of 1924, the whole civilized world, with 
one consent, doing homage to the Babe of Bethlehem. 
From the greatest to the least, the richest and poor- 
est, wise and otherwise, Kings and servants, all come 
alike with ‘‘the Magi,’’ to offer their gifts. On this 
one day the whole world is akin. All industries of 
the world and activities of state cease, and every eye 


[74] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


is looking into the manger to see the little Babe 
Jesus, It was the ‘‘Red Cross,’’ representing the 
blood of Calvary, that healed the world’s wounded 
during that long four years of bloody carnage. And 
amidst and over it all, there could be seen on Gol- 
gotha’s brow, shining out of the midday darkness, 
that lone white form with outstretched arms—dying 
for ‘‘the sin of the world.’’ 


ATHEISTIC RUSSIA 


But there is one great exception and that is the 
Red Flag of the Communistic Party. It flaunts its 
Atheism and consequently anarchy in the face of the 
Christian world. Maurice G. Hindus, who is famil- 
lar with religious conditions in Russia, says in the 
‘‘Century,’’ January, 1925, that ‘‘the young people 
are largely atheistic.’’ ‘‘There is not a place in 
Russia, where one can purchase a Bible.’’ ‘‘That 
the Bolshevists are hostile to religion and hope ulti- 
mately to stamp out all churches and all faiths, they 
frankly and proudly admit.’’ He closes with these 
words: ‘‘Unless the Soviets collapse, we shall, when 
the present generation comes of age, witness the 
spectacle of the largest white nation in the world un- 
der the sway of Atheism.’’ The Pittsburgh Gazette- 
Times recently had the following as a part of an edi- 
torial. ‘‘Gregory S. Zinovieff, chairman of the ex- 
ecutive committee of the Third International an- 
nounces: ‘We cannot allow ourselves such a luxury 


[75] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


as a vigorous and inflexible religious campaign. We 
shall pursue our attacks on Almighty God in due 
time, and in an appropriate manner. We shall sub- 
due Him. We shall fight Him wherever He hides 
Himself.’ ’’ This is enough to prove, that the Soviet 
government of Russia is atheistic to the core. It is 
well known that the Communistic party in every na- 
tion is the same. It is as pagan as old Rome ever 
was, having no religion except to worship the state. 
It fulfills to the very letter the description of the 
‘“beast’’ in Rev. 18: 4, 6, 12, 14, and by Paul in II 
Thess. 2:4 viz., ‘‘He that opposeth and exalteth him- 
self against all that is called God or that is wor- 
shipped.’’ It makes no difference what Mr. Purcell 
and his delegation from the Trades Union Congress, 
now in Russia, may report. Conditions may be im- 
proved in some ways over the former religion, much 
of which is wholly external (from which religion 
Jesus tore off the cloak showing its hideousness in 
Matt. 28:3, 33), but that is not the point. Is Soviet 
Russia Atheistic, or fast becoming so, and opposed 
to God, as is shown not only in the above quotations 
(which might be greatly multiplied) but is acknowl- 
edged by Communism and Radicals everywhere? 
That is the question. Any government, who occu- 
pies such a position toward ‘‘Almighty God’’ and 
His Christ is a curse and cannot stand a generation. 
It is a reversion to savagery, out of which man for 
many millenniums has been slowly emerging. But it 


[76] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


is Just such a world wide government as this, that is 
deseribed by Daniel, Paul and John the seer. It has 
already a death-hold upon Russia with its 150,000,000 
people and is reaching out its tentacles to clutch the 
other nations of the earth. 

Again, Jesus is saying to Satan and his cohorts of 
evil, ‘‘This is your hour and the powers of dark- 
ness’’ (Luke 22:53). Again Heaven is inviting all 
the forces of hell and earth to the attack. But when 
this mighty world force is gathered for the ‘‘ Battle 
of Armageddon,’’ they will not meet a ‘‘Lamb to be 
slain,’’ but the mighty ‘‘Kine of kings and Lord of 
lords’’ ‘‘upon whose head are many diadems’”’ re- 
turning with His lovely bride clothed in robes, white 
and pure, who are coming to reign on this earth in 
Love, Righteousness and Great glory. 


“The Son of God goes forth to war, 
A kingly crown to gain. 
His blood-red banner streams afar; 
Who follows in His train? 
Who best can drink His eup of woe, 
Triumphant over pain, 
Who patient bears His cross below, 
He follows in His train.” 


“A noble band, the chosen few, 

On whom the Spirit came; 

Twelve valiant saints, their hope they knew; 
And mocked the cross and flame. 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


They met the tyrant’s brandished steel, 

The lion’s gory mane; 

They bowed their heads the stroke to feel, 

Who follows in their train?” 
—R. HEpBeEr. 


[78] 


CHAPTER X 


The Deity of Jesus 


NE proposition alone, when proven, establishes 

J the Bible to be God’s infallible Word. That 
proposition is, that ‘‘Jesus is the Christ, the son of 
the living God’’ (Matt. 16:16). ‘‘Upon this rock,’’ 
says Jesus, ‘‘I will build My church,’’ and to prove 
this one proposition, John wrote his gospel (John 
20:31). The Deity of Jesus the Christ, once estab- 
lished, everything in the Bible is established. He is 
the object and heart of the whole revelation of God 
to man. If He is the ‘‘Only Begotten Son of God’’ 
(John 8:16), and is ‘‘Immanuel—God with us’’ 
(Matt. 1:23), then whatever He said and endorsed is 
TRUE. ‘‘But how can we know what Jesus really 
said?’’ is asked. If He is divine, He would have 
sense enough, not only to give His revelation plainly, 
but to see that it was written by chosen and well 
qualified witnesses, who would be specially guided 
by His own superintendence and under the direction 
of the Holy Spirit, while God would confirm the 
revelation so given, ‘‘by signs and wonders and gifts 
of the Holy Spirit according to His own will’’ (Heb. 
1:2; 2:1-4). This is all that reason demands, and 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


this and more is what we find in the New Testament. 

To even hint that this might be inadequately 
done, is to impeach the wisdom and ability of God. 
Heaven could take no risk here. So this Revelation 
is given and guarded by the Father, the Son and the 
Holy Spirit, so that man might know of a CER- 
TAINTY the things that concern his life and destiny. 
Let us examine some of the indisputable proofs of 
Christ’s Deity. 


Proors oF CuHrist’s DIVINITY 


Jesus the Christ is the most tremendous force and 
character in the world. That He lived and wrought 
and taught as no other man is acknowledged by all. 
Not only did He speak ‘‘as no other man spake”’ 
while He was on the earth, but He yet speaks as no 
other teacher; for all the combined wisdom from 
that day to this, has not been able to change one 
principle He taught, without marring it; nor to im- 
prove one sentence He ever uttered. He spoke for 
all time, and His teaching when practiced, will pro- 
duce a reign of righteousness in the earth. Even 
Mr. H. G. Wells in his ‘‘Outline of History,’’ in his 
illogical treatment of Jesus, is forced to say, ‘‘He 
was too great for His disciples.’’ ‘‘Is it any won- 
der, that to this day, this Galilean is too much for 
our small hearts?’’ Yet he rejects all that is super- 
natural in His life. When Mr. Wells and other Mod- 
ernists reject the miracles of Christ’s birth and re- 


[80] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


surrection, and those that Jesus worked himself, let 
them account for the tremendous phenomenon of 
Jesus Himself and that of His teaching. 


GREATEST MIRACLE IS JESUS 


Jesus the Christ is the greatest miracle of all. How 
could there arise out of an obscure town, a young 
man, without scholastic training, confined to his own 
small province, without prestige and without money 
or soldiers, with only a handful of obscure, timid 
followers, who deserted him at his death; and He, 
himself, at the age of thirty-three, crucified as a 
felon between two thieves; tell us you ‘‘modern- 
ists,’’ how is it that such a person rallied His hope- 
less disciples, won tens of thousands to His cause 
in the city and province where He was crucified, and 
then swept through Asia Minor and over Europe and 
across the seas, until He has belted the earth with 
His missionaries; and now after nineteen centuries 
have nearly passed, is the most stupendous force in 
the universe. If he did not arise from the dead, how 
comes it that His power outlasts that of the Caesars 
or monarchs of the world, and that to-day, the great- 
est of the earth, acknowledge Him to be their Lord? 
If He was born like other men and lived the natural 
life like others, which ended in the grave; tell us 
why it is, that instead of the record of His life being 
that of His birth at Bethlehem and His death re- 
corded among the criminals executed at Jerusalem, 


[81] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 
Pere: 

that we find four of the most wonderful biographies 
of His life that were ever written? ‘‘Memoirs’’ of a 
life that have held the minds and hearts of mankind 
with entrancing interest for over eighteen centuries, 
and have affected this world for good more than all 
other books. Let us notice the character of the evi- 
dence that is given therein. 


Testimony THAT is INDISPUTABLE 


Any testimony given, is either true or false. If 
false, it must be one of two things; either the wit- 
ness was deceived and thought he was telling the 
truth when he was not, or he told that which is false, 
knowing it to be false when he told it, that is, he 
wilfully lied. If it can be shown that these witnesses 
could not have been deceived about the matters of 
which they testified and neither is it possible to be- 
lieve that they wilfully lied, then it most certainly 
follows that their testimony is absolutely true. 


Witnesses Not DECEIVED 


Now these men could not have been deceived. All 
the miracles of Jesus and His appearances after His 
resurrection are matters that admit of no deception. 
Take the healing of the blind man in John 9:1-38. 
Bring on your science, and east upon it the light of 
the twentieth century, and you have changed noth- 
ing. The blind man knew; his parents knew: the 
people knew that he was born blind. That he ‘‘now 


[82] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


sees’’ anyone could ascertain. No man was ever 
surrounded by keener critics than Jesus. When 
John gave this testimony and that of the resurrec- 
tion of Lazarus, and the feeding of the five thousand 
and all the other miracles of Jesus, he either told 
the truth or else he wilfully hed. He could not have 
been deceived. So with all of Christ’s miracles. 
They were done in the open. Everybody knew when 
the paralytics walked, the blind saw, the deaf heard, 
the lepers were cleansed and funerals were turned 
into festivities of joy by the resurrection of loved 
ones, etc., ete. Take the feeding of the five thousand, 
which shows God’s creative power in the Christ. It 
is given, in detail, in all the four Gospels, and thou- 
sands were then living, as witnesses of this great 
miracle. 


EVIDENCE OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION 


It is the same with the resurrection of Jesus. When 
all of the four Gospels give the facts of Christ’s re- 
surrection, and Peter and Paul give their testimony, 
they recite facts about which there could be no de- 
ception. One look at Jesus after His resurrection 
was enough for the once doubting Thomas. But not 
only did they see Him, but John says ‘‘our hands 
handled’’ (I John 1:1). They ate and talked to- 
gether with Him. ‘‘He showed Himself alive after 
His passion by many proofs appearing unto them by 
the space of forty days’’ (Acts 1:3). They saw the 


[83] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


nail prints in His hands and feet and His spear-rent 
side on several occasions. He appeared unto indi- 
viduals, then the twelve and ‘‘to above five hundred 
brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain 
until now.’’ ‘‘Then He appeared to me also’’ says 
Paul (I Cor. 15:3-8). Paul’s testimony alone is suf- 
ficent to convince anyone; for who can explain how 
this rabid persecutor changed to live that victorious 
life of power, on any other ground than that of the 
appearance to him of the resurrected and glorified 
Christ. No, these witnesses could not have been de- 
ceived. 


/ 
CouLp Not Br WILuFUL LIARS 


But did they le wilfully? Who ean believe it? 
Men will testify to that which is false for the sake 
of money, pleasure, or to defend themselves from 
loss or death. But who would ever make up a lie 
and then stick to it, when it brought him the loss of 
everything that men hold dear, even to life itself, 
when only to confess it as a lie would bring release 
and gain. Then these men, if they testified to a lie 
and died for it, would expect punishment after death 
for lying (Rev. 21:8). No, this is impossible to be- 
lieve. Skeptics do not offer this as a solution of the 
question. These men, sealing their testimony by 
their death, give the strongest evidence that is pos- 
sible of their sincerity. Now if these men could not 
have been deceived about these facts of which they 


[84] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


so clearly testify, and their sacrifices and testings 
even unto death prove that they did not make these 
things up and palm them off as the truth when they 
knew they were lies, then these men told the TRUTH 
in these Gospels and Jesus did all that is recorded 
therein, which proves Christ’s DEITY. 


Common EvIpENCE By Common MEN 


These witnesses in their testimony about Christ’s 
miracles and resurrection needed no inspiration in 
giving this evidence. These facts they tested with 
their natural senses. They saw! They heard! They 
touched! and they even tasted of the miraculous 
loaves and wine. We are not reasoning in a circle— 
assuming the supernatural so that we may prove it 
by the supernatural. We, by common evidence, 
prove that these miracles were performed, and they 
prove Christ’s Deity. This is the plan of Jesus, who 
always appealed to His miracles to prove his Divine 
mission (Luke 4:21, John 5:36). ‘‘Go and tell John”’ 
says Jesus ‘‘the things which ye HEAR and SHE; 
the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the 
lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, and the dead 
are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached 
unto them’’ (Matt. 11:6). These were Christ’s 
eredentials and He linked these miracles in with His 
preaching and woe be to the one who would separate 
them. 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


DISCARDING THE MirAcuEs DISASTROUS 


But why should any one seek to eliminate the mir- 
acles? A mathematical proposition must be proven 
by a mathematical demonstration; so a supernatural 
proposition must be proven by supernatural evi- 
dence, of which the Bible abounds. How foolish to 
say ‘‘the miracles are of very little value anyway.’’ 
‘‘As long as we have Christ’s teachings, we have all 
that is really worth while.’’ You tear out the mir- 
acles of Jesus from the Gospels and you tear out 
their heart, for it was through His miracles that 
Jesus touched the heart of this old world in its dis- 
eases, tears, misery and death. You would have, not 
only a mutilated book, torn into shreds, but a mu- 
tilated Gospel, for much of the most sublime lessons 
of Christ rests upon these miracles. Why man, you 
would put Lazarus back into the tomb and send back 
into ‘‘the city of Nain’’ the broken hearted widow 
unsupported by her only son. You would let the 
lepers rot, the blind grope in darkness, the paraly- 
tics and those stricken with fever to pine away on 
their beds, the boy to foam on the ground and the 
hungry thousands to go unfed, ete., ete. And yet 
you talk much about ‘‘Social Service.’? Yea, you 
would pluck the most precious flower from the 
wreath of praise that the rejoicing multitudes placed 
upon the Saviour’s brow and would turn their 
Hosannas of joy back into the moans and wailings as 


[86] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


before. It was through these miracles, that the com- 
mon people saw the compassionate heart of Christ, 
and into their hearts, thus made tender, He could 
pour His wonderful words of love and life. The dark 
side of it all is the unbelieving scribes and Pharisees, 
who were so filled with their ‘‘doctrines of man’’ 
and human speculations and ‘‘traditions of the eld- 
ers’’ that they could not see, or hear, or perceive 
the Lord of Life and Glory standing in their midst. 
It is the same to-day. ‘‘I beheld Satan fallen as 
lightning from heaven,’’ cried Jesus, when He saw 
His disciples really taking up His work. How He 
‘‘rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said I thank thee, 
O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst 
hide these things from the wise and understanding, 
and didst reveal them unto babes; yea, Father ; for so 
was it well pleasing in thy sight’’ (Luke 10:17-21). 
O, how He longs to-day to find people, who are 
simple in heart enough to really believe what He 
says, and then to obey it. 


CAUSE OF GERMANY’S FALL 


Germany, a few decades ago, was the strongest 
government on the earth. Now she is an object of 
supreme pity, because of her incompetency in mat- 
ters of government, finance and Christian love. What 
has made the difference? Her ‘‘ Wise and Under- 
standing’’ professors in Theology said we must put 
Jesus and His religion to a scientific test. So her 


[87] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


theological chemists proceeded to analyze the 
‘‘Bread that came down from heaven,’’ which had 
made Germany a stalwart among the nations; and 
then the theological botanists picked to pieces the 
‘‘Rose of Sharon,’’ whose sweetness and fragrance 
had filled Germany with love and song; and then the 
theological surgeons dissected the ‘‘Lamb of God,’’ 
whose atoning blood had been grasped by Luther 
with a mighty faith; and had produced the great 
Reformation; and when these ‘‘Theological Scien- 
tists’? had made a sad mess of it all, then they said 
‘Behold what science has done to your Christian 
religion!’’ And the poor people believed them, and 
Germany lost her FAITH and went to her Doom. 
Into these skeptical incubators went young men 
from various countries, who on returning have 
hatched out a school of thought that is now known 
as ‘‘Modernists.’’ Regardless of the disaster that has 
come to Germany et al, they still seem to think that 
the way to ascertain Biblical teaching is by the 
microscope, scalpel and pick axe and by the way of 
the laboratory. Oh, that they may yet look up unto 
Him, who is still saying, ‘‘I am the way, and the 
truth and the life; no one cometh unto the Father 
but by me,’’ so that we may all stand together upon 
the ‘‘Rock of Ages’’—The Eternal Verities of God’s 
Holy Word. 


[88] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


IMMANUEL—Gop WirH Us 


We have seen by the common rules of evidence 
that Jesus did heal the sick, the deaf, the blind, the 
lame, the palsied, and raised the dead, even one who 
had been dead four days. That He did by His crea- 
tive power feed five thousand men with five loaves 
and two fishes. That by His word of power He 
withered the fig tree and calmed the turbulent sea 
and hushed the boisterous storm into a gentle lul-la- 
bye. Yea, He, Himself, walked forth from the tomb, 
after dying days before of a ruptured heart, from 
whence came ‘‘water and blood.’’ All of this over- 
whelming evidence proves without a doubt that 
Jesus is ‘‘The Son of God’’; ‘‘Immanuel—God with 
us’’—The God-man. He is ‘‘The WORD”’ that ‘‘was 
in the beginning with God’’ and ‘‘WAS GOD,”’ and 
‘‘was made flesh and dwelt among us.’’ Even skep- 
tics have to ery out as they behold Him; and we can 
even join with Ernest Renan, Jean Paul Richter and 
Rousseau as they. give their apostrophies of praise 
to Jesus the Son of God. 


“A thousand times more alive, a thousand times more 
loved since thy death than during thy pilgrimage here be- 
low; thou shalt become so truly the cornerstone of human- 
ity, that to tear thy name from this world were to shake 
it to its foundations.” RENAN. 


“The life of Christ concerns him who, being the Holiest 
among the mighty, the mightiest among the holy, lifted with 


[89] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


His own pierced hands empires off their hinges and turned 
the stream of centuries out of its channel, and still governs 
the ages.” —RICHTER. 


“Yes, if the death of Socrates be that of a sage the life 
and death of Jesus are those of a God.”—RovussEAU. ; 


Goethe the prince of German poets also says: 


“T esteem the Gospels to be thoroughly genuine for there 
shines forth from the reflected splendor of a sublimity, pro- 
ceeding from the person of Jesus Christ of so divine a kind 
as only the divine could ever have manifested upon earth.” 


The encomiums upon Jesus the Christ by the 
greatest of the earth would fill a volume if all were 
printed. 


[90] 


CHAPTER XI 


The Holy Spirit—Another Advocate 


“And when they lead you to Judgment, and deliver you 
up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but 
whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; 
for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Mk. 13:11; 
Luke 12:11). 

“Ye are witnesses of these things. And behold I send 
forth the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in 
the city, until ye be clothed with power from on high” (Luke 
24:48, 49 cf. Acts 1:4,8). 

“T will pray the Father and He shall give you another 
Comforter (Advocate), that He may be with you forever.” 
“But the Comforter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father 
will send in My name, He shall teach you all things and 
bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you” (John 
14:16, 26). 

“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto 
you from the Father, He shall bear witness of me and ye 
also bear witness because you have been with me from the 
beginning” (John 15:26, 27). 

“Howbeit when He, the spirit of truth is come, He shall 
guide you into all the truth: for He shall not speak from 
Himself: but what things soever He shall hear, these shall 
He speak: and He shall declare unto you the things that are 
to come. He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of mine, 
and shall declare it unto you. All things whatsoever the 
Father hath are mine: therefore said I that He taketh of 
mine and shall declare it unto you” (John 16:13-15). 


[91] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


OW could anything be made clearer, or more 

positive, than is shown in these verses, that 
Jesus would send the Holy Spirit, ‘‘another Advo- 
eate’’ ‘‘whom the Father will send in my name’’; 
‘“who shall guide you into all the truth,’’ and ‘‘shall 
teach you ali things,’’ ‘‘and He shall declare unto you 
the things that are to come.’’ Nothing can be plainer 
than these words. Again, ‘‘He shall bring to your 
remembrance all that I said unto you.’’? They were 
not to trust alone even to their own memories, but it 
would be given them what to say or write. Their 
personality was not to be submerged but to be used; 
for says Jesus, ‘‘And ye also bear witness because 
you have been with me from the beginning.’’ They, 
using their own wits and senses were to testify, but 
to be so under the control of the Holy Spirit, as to 
be ‘‘guided into all the truth.’’ As Peter declares 
when so guided, ‘‘We are witnesses of these things 
and so is the Holy Spirit’’ (Acts 5:82). 


PROGRAM OF REVELATION 


The program seems to be this. The whole of the 
New Testament is primarily from the Father (John 
17:8; 14). ‘‘All things whatsoever the Father hath 
are mine,’’ says Jesus. Jesus gave this revelation 
unto chosen men. Peter says, ‘‘But unto witnesses 
that were chosen before of God, even to us, who did 
eat and drink with Him after He arose from the 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


dead’’ (Acts 10:41). ‘‘Unto the apostles whom He 
hath chosen”’ (Acts 1:2; John 15:16). These apostles 
were with Christ through His whole ministry and dur- 
ing the forty days after His resurrection, when they 
talked, ate and drank with Him and ‘“‘handled’’ Him 
(I John 1:1). No testimony ever given, is supported 
by stronger evidence, as has been shown in the pre- 
vious chapter, than this, given by these writers of the 
New Testament. 


Wuo WROTE THE GOSPELS 


How did these sacred Biographies come into exist- 
ence? Here they are; written with such charming 
simplicity, marvelous lucidity, remarkable brevity, 
with no comments, personality hidden and yet dis- 
tinct, reverent yet utterly free from cant, each one 
recording many things that the others do not, thus 
showing no collusion nor copying, and each one telling 
his story in his own way and yet without contradic- 
tion. And yet, when we take them all together, we 
see rising up out of these four distinct records a per- 
son, who is so Godlike in His nature, conduct and 
teachings; so divine in His death and so glorious in 
His Resurrection, that we cry out with doubting 
Thomas, ‘‘My Lord and My God!’’ (John 20:28). 
Again we ask, from whence came these holy records 
of so holy a character ? 


[93] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


DisciPpLes INADEQUATE UNLESS INSPIRED 


To say that they were written by that group of 
disciples whom Jesus had gathered about Him, whom 
Mr. H. G. Wells ealls ‘‘very inferior men,’’ without 
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and the superin- 
tendence of the resurrected Christ is to talk utter 
nonsense. What kind of a biography would Peter the 
chief apostle, have written if Jesus had not risen and 
saved him? The last we see of Peter at the trial, he 
is denying his Lord with cursings and then going 
‘fout weeping bitterly.’’ How efficient would Thomas 
have been, when he refused even to believe his 
brethren, when they told him that they had seen their 
resurrected Lord. What kind of ‘‘Memoirs’’ would 
any of them have written, when they were quarreling, 
even to the last, about who would be the greatest in 
the kingdom; and when the officers came to arrest 
Jesus ‘‘they all left Him and fled’’ like a flock of 
frightened sheep. Do you ‘‘modernists’’ mean to tell 
us, that out of a scared, hopeless company like that, 
‘and without the bodily resurrection of Jesus and the 
inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that Christianity arose 
and shook all Jerusalem and even the Roman empire 
itself, so that within three centuries the Roman em- 
peror bowed to the sceptre of the Nazarene? 


Not WRITTEN IN SECOND CENTURY 
But to say that these Gospels were written, or 
patched up and finished in the second or third century 


[94] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


by the Greek Mystics, is to bring in another dilemma 
that is even worse than the first and as senseless. 
Take the Gospel of John over which the battle wages. 
For anyone to affirm that any of the ‘‘Mystics’’ or 
writers of the second century made up (for he would 
have to make it up, for he was not present to witness 
the things of which he writes) that matchless book that 
bears John’s name shows an ignorance of the gospel 
itself and also of the canons whereby the authorship 
of a book may be known. A careful reading will 
show, that from the choosing of the first disciples to 
its closing words, that it was written by an eye wit- 
ness. 


HEALING OF BLIND MAN AND LAZARUS 


Take for instance, the healing of the blind man 
(9:1-88). The manner of the healing, the testimony 
of the blind man, the calling of the parents, the in- 
terest of the people, the determination of the Pharisees 
to set aside the force of this miracle so manifest to 
all, their discussion with the blind man and then 
their ‘‘casting him out,’’ and Jesus finding him and 
making Himself known to the poor outcast ete., all 
bear the marks of an eye witness that cannot be set 
aside. The same is true about the resurrection of 
Lazarus (11:1-47) ; the way the message was sent to 
Jesus, his abiding two days longer to make the miracle 
more effective in glorifying God, His comments with 
His disciples, the meeting and conversation with 


[95] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Martha, then the coming of the sensitive, weeping 
Mary with her weeping friends and Jesus weeping 
with them, and the caution of the careful Martha at 
the tomb, the miracle itself and the effect upon the 
Pharisees, etc., etc. speak in the most convincing way 
that the writer was an eye witness. For anyone to 
assert, that this could have been written by any of 
the dreamy ‘‘Mystics’’ or any other man of the second 
century, Shows that he is incapable of understanding 
words or human character. The same is true all 
through the book viz. the choosing of the first five 
disciples, the first miracle when the mother of Jesus 
was present, the whole chapter, about the washing of 
the disciple’s feet, especially 18: 23-25. 


JOHN CLAIMS AUTHORSHIP 


Then John declares that he, himself, is the author 
(John 13 :23-25; 20:2; 21: 20-24) ; and for any other 
John, or anyone else to use these words that John 
uses about himself, would be to commit a forgery. 
Who ean believe that anyone, one hundred years or 
more after Christ’s death, could have produced those 
precious discourses of Jesus found in the fourteenth 
to the sixteenth Chapters of John? Those words, 
‘‘Let not your heart be troubled’’ down to ‘‘ My peace 
I give unto you,’’ that gave such comfort when 
spoken, and have dried the tears of myriads since; 
and especially the intercessory prayer of our Lord in 

John 17:1-26, when He ‘‘lifted' up His eyes to heaven 


[96] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


and said, ‘Father, the hour is come: glorify thy Son, 
that the Son may glorify Thee,’ ’’ could never have 
been written by anyone else but John, whom Jesus 
loved; who also leaned back on His breast (John 
21:20 ef. vs. 24). Anyone else would be perpetrating 
a fraud in pretending to be reporting these spoken 
words of Jesus; and His manner in giving them; and 
who can believe that such truths could be given by 
forgers and pretenders. These words found in this 
‘*Holy of holies’’ of the New Testament came out of 
the innermost soul of the compassionate Christ. They 
breathe forth from a heart that is soon to break—and 
no mortal man, not even John could be intrusted with 
the writing of such priceless words of ‘‘Spirit and 
Life,’’ without the aid of the Holy Spirit—the ‘‘ Para- 
elete’’ of The Christ. 


WHo.LeE oF New TESTAMENT INSPIRED 


This is true of the whole New Testament. Words 
are a part of a person’s own inner self, for they ex- 
press one’s thoughts. For anyone to compose the Ser- 
mon on the Mount or the wonderful parables of Jesus ; 
in fact all of His Words of Grace and Truth, can be 
no less a person than that which is set forth in the 
New Testament as ‘‘ THE LOGOS,’’ who ‘‘was God”’ 
and ‘‘in the beginning was with God’’ and ‘‘ became 
Flesh and dwelt among us’’ (John 1:2, 14). Daniel 
Webster, who could form sentences of such rare 
power, said ‘‘ Divinity is stamped upon every word of 


[97] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


the Sermon on the Mount, for no human mind is eap- 
able of uttering such words without divine aid.’’ All 
great souls like Justice Brewer of the United States 
Supreme Court have always testified of the depths to 
which the Bible sounded them and of the inexhaust- 
ible store of knowledge contained therein. Alexander 
Campbell with his great mental faculties, after spend- 
ing a life time in“the devout study of the Bible, said 
he felt like Sir Isaac Newton, who after his wonderful 
discoveries in science, said ‘‘I seem to be only a boy 
playing on the sea-shore, picking up a pebble or a 
shell here and there, while the great ocean of truth 
lies undiscovered before me.’’ Both of these giants 
in intellect and religion were facing the infinitude of 
God, who is the author of both nature and the Bible. 


THE COMFORTER GLORIFIES JESUS 


‘‘He shall glorify Me, for He shall take of the 
things of mine and shall show them unto you’’ (John 
16:14). Not only was He to bring to their remem- 
branee all that Jesus had said unto them, but the 
Holy Spirit was to live in them, taking continually 
the things of Christ and showing or explaining these 
things unto them. Hach event and each day as the 
need came, He was there as the Advocate or Helper to 
glorify Christ. ‘‘He shall not speak from Himself; 
but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He 
speak.’’ He was to be the spiritual ear through which 
the Christ would speak to His witnesses. Being in 


[98] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


spiritual touch with Jesus and also with the writers 
He was to convey whatever Christ wanted to reveal 
unto them and through them. See what different 
sentences Jesus uses to show the certainty of the revel- 
ation. ‘‘He shall teach you all things.’’ ‘*He shall 
bring to your remembrance all that I said unto you;’’ 
‘‘He shall guide you into all the truth.’’ ‘* Whatso- 
ever He shall hear, these shall He speak.’’ ‘‘He shall 
declare unto you the things that are to come.’’ ‘‘He 
shall glorify me.’’ Every miracle was wrought by 
the Holy Spirit, but done in Christ’s name to glorify 
Him. The same with every message until Paul could 
say ‘‘I know nothing but Jesus and Him crucified.”’ 
And yet all of the miracles that Jesus worked was by 
the Holy Spirit. When the Pharisees said ‘‘ He casts 
out demons by Beelzebub’’ immediately Christ said, 
‘*You have blasphemed the Holy Spirit.’’ ‘‘I by the 
Spirit of God cast out demons.’’? He was the power 
that brought into being the whole plan of redemption 
in Christ. By the Holy Spirit Jesus was begotten, 
empowered for His work (Luke 3:22; 4:14, 18), 
raised from the dead, glorified by miraculous deeds 
on earth by His witnesses, and He is the one who is 
now selecting the bride for Christ. Like the faithful 
servant in Mesopotamia seeking a bride for Isaac, He 
is wooing and adorning and is conducting Christ’s 
church to that place, where He can present her to His 
Master with great joy, so that she may enter into the 
eternal tabernacles and reign with Him forever. Like 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


all who are pure and loving, He is sensitive and can 
be grieved (Eph. 4:30) and never enters where He is 
not welcomed. He is a person, so modest and unsel- 
fish, serving with such wonderful love, that it brings 
tears to think how often He is grieved, and oft 
neglected, if not wholly rejected, by those who ought 
to be His own. We sometimes think that He repre- 
sents the mother side, while God is the Father, and 
Jesus is the Stalwart Son and our elder Brother in 
the Divine Family. In creation and providence, as 
given in the Old Testament these three are known as 
God, the Word of God and the Spirit of God. In the 
New Testament, in their work of redemption, these 
become the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Not only 
are these three connected with the great transactions 
of Man’s redemption; but they most certainly, seeing 
that it was purchased with such a great price, have 
seen to it that it was infallibly recorded in the New 
Testament in all the matters of Christ’s birth, deeds, 
teaching, death and resurrection and glorification. 


[100} 


—————— 


CHAPTER XII 


Inspiration of the Bible 


E now come to the question of inspiration, 

which is so fully answered by Jesus in the 
verses quoted at the head of the previous chapter. 
In the previous chapters, we saw that the facts of 
Christ’s miracles and resurrection were proven to be 
true by common rules of evidence. We also saw that 
the New Testament could not have been written by 
uninspired men, and also that it was written by eye 
witnesses who knew of the facts, which they so clearly 
affirm. This is not only true of the Gospels, but also 
of ‘‘the Acts’’ and of course of the Epistles of Paul, 
Peter and John and of Revelation, ete. While they 
did not need inspiration to tell what they saw and 
heard, yet they did need the incoming of the Holy 
Spirit to arouse them from their timidity and im- 
potency; so that they could ‘‘speak the Word of God 
with boldness’’ and that it could be recorded that 
‘“With great power gave the apostles their witness 
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace 
was upon them all’’ (Acts 4:31, 33). They needed 
to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, so that they 


could tell with power and accuracy what they bad seen 
and heard. 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


PROMISE FULFILLED TO PETER 


The promise of Jesus in Mk. 13:11; Luke 12:11; 
John 14:26, was fulfilled to the letter, and the Holy 
Spirit came in power to guide these witnesses into 
all the truth. There is no other way to account for 
the marvelous preaching of Peter and Stephen, ete. 
Take the scene in Acts 4:5-22, where Peter and John 
are arrested for healing and preaching. MHere is a 
fisherman from Galilee, who had from a boy looked 
upon the high priest with awe and great reverence. 
He is suddenly arrested and brought before the 
‘‘Rulers, and elders, and scribes; and Annas the high 
priest, and Caiaphas, and John and Alexander,’’ ete. 
(Acts 4:5, 6), an august assembly, before which, Peter 
would hardly dare to move a hand or foot. And yet 
‘‘Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said, ‘If we this 
day are examined concerning a good deed done to an 
impotent man, by what means this man is made whole; 
be it known unto you all, and to all the people of 
Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 
whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, 
even in Him doth this man stand here before you 
whole.’ ’’ Not only is the boldness of Peter, who had 
denied his Lord before a maid, remarkable, but his 
tact and skill is marvellous. In one sentence he turns 
the tables, so that his august hearers were the cul- 
prits and he and John were the victors. 


[102] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


ScENE BEFORE THE SANHEDRIN 


See the situation! Lame man strong and rejoicing; 
Peter and John hailed before this august court for 
doing a ‘‘Good Deed!’’ Peter had them badly beaten 
in the first part of his sentence. Then the whole 
scene changes. Peter and John are now the accusers 
and the ‘‘Big Wigs’’ are the defendants. You wish to 
know says Peter ‘‘by what name have ye done this ?’’ 
It was ‘‘in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,’’ 
that this good deed was done. You crucified HIM! 
““God raised HIM from the dead!’’ Oh, with what 
matchless skill were these three fatal thrusts given. 
Then He turns the blade within them ‘‘This is the 
Stone, which was set at naught of you builders, which 
was made the head of the corner.’’ They understood 
the meaning of the rejected stone. The words of the 
high priest in Acts 5:28 show how deep these thrusts 
went, viz. ‘‘ You intend to bring this man’s blood upon 
us,’’ which shows that they were now on the defense. 
Now does anyone mean to say that blundering Peter 
did this, without being under the control of the Holy 
Spirit? There is no lawyer living to-day, or in any 
other day, that could have accomplished such a feat. 


WRITTEN Worp INSPIRED AS WELL AS SPOKEN 


Not only was it necessary for the Holy Spirit to 
guide and quicken these witnesses in what they saw 
and heard, but some very precious things in our 


[103] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Lord’s life had to be given by the ‘‘ Other Advocate’’ 
alone; for no human eye saw or ear heard Christ’s 
temptation in the wilderness, nor the scene at Geth- 
semane when the disciples slept. The reporting of 
Christ’s discourses, conversations and parables was 
too important to be intrusted to human memory, for 
one word lost or changed would be a calamity. The 
same is true of Peter’s wonderful sermon at Pente- 
cost. The same Holy Spirit that preached these ser- 
mons through Peter, Stephen, Paul, ete. could guide 
Luke into a correct record in the Acts of Apostles, 
and also every other writer. If the Holy Spirit was 
present in power to do these mighty works, most cer- 
tainly He could do the lesser work of seeing that they 
were faithfully recorded. His mission was ‘‘to declare 
unto them the things that are to come,’’ and of what 
use would it be to declare the future things unless 
they were written down. It is very certain that the 
first epistle was inspired (Acts 15:23-29). Peter de- 
clares that they (The Apostles) ‘‘preached the Gos- 
pel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from 
heaven’’ (I Pet. 1:1:12) and Paul declares that the 
Thessalonians received his ‘‘message, even the word 
of God;’’ ‘‘not as the word of men, but as it is in 
truth, the word of God’’ (I Thess. 2:13). 


Every SCRIPTURE, GOD-BREATHED 


Paul declares ‘‘Every Scripture inspired of God 
(God-breathed) is also profitable’’ ete. (I Tim. 3:16). 


[104] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Nearly all the New Testament was written by this 
time and was accepted as Scripture. It is clear that 
Peter in his last words puts Paul’s Epistle among 
‘‘the other Scriptures’’ in IT Pet. 3:15, 16. It is quite 
evident that ‘‘the Synoptics’’ were written by this 
time, and ‘‘the Acts’’ had been written by Luke; for 
he closed his book, while Paul was yet ‘‘in his own 
hired dwelling and received all that went in unto 
him;’’ ‘‘preaching none forbidding him.’’ But we 
see that Paul was ‘‘already being offered,’’ when he 
wrote these words in II Tim. 3:16. That Luke wrote 
his Gospel before ‘‘ Acts’’ is clearly shown in Acts 1:1, 
where he speaks of ‘‘The former treatise I made,’’ 
which is certainly his Gospel. Whether Mark wrote 
first, or whether he wrote under the direction of Peter 
(I Pet. 5:13), or whether he wrote independently, 
matters not. He was well qualified by being so much 
with Peter and Paul, and his mother’s home being a 
meeting place for Jesus and His apostles (Acts 12:12 
ef. Mk. 14:51, 52). 


MarK AND LUKE 


‘Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring 
him with thee; for he is useful to me’’ (II Tim. 4:11). 
Tested when a young man, Mark had now made so 
good, that Paul sent for him above all others, to 
minister to him and for him in his last hours. Luke, 
the ‘‘Beloved Physician’’ was already there. See this 
scene as given above. ‘‘Paul the aged’’ says ‘‘I am 


[105] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


already being offered and the time of my departure 
is come’’ (vs. 6). He also says ‘‘At my first defense 
no one took my part, but all forsook me.’’ ‘‘But the 
Lord stood by me’’ (vs. 16, 17). Dr. Luke then 
came to his aid. Then Paul wrote, ‘‘Only Luke is 
with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee; for 
he is useful to me for ministering.’’ That is, ‘‘ Luke 
only is here! Bring Mark!’’ And when the Lord 
came to ‘‘stand by Paul’’ at “‘the time of his depar- 
ture’’ how blessed to think that He saw Luke and 
Mark there faithful to the last, receiving the mantle 
of our great apostle ‘‘the apostle to the Gentiles.’’ 
‘Mark and Luke’’ are still side by side in the Book 
of books, and they were certainly qualified to write 
a Biography of Christ. Luke, the faithful attendant 
of. Paul from Troas, where also he became the his- 
torian as he uses the personal pronoun ‘‘we’’ and 
‘‘us’’? (Acts 16:10), and Mark a disciple from the 
beginning (Mk. 14:51, 52; Acts 12:12) could write as 
they were helped by Peter and Paul and were guided 
by the Holy Spirit. Jesus, according to His promise, 
was present to heal (Acts 3:6; 4:10 etc.). He ap- 
peared unto Stephen (Acts 7:55-56) and to Paul 
(Acts 9:5; 18:9; II Tim. 4:17) and to Ananias (Acts 
9:10) etc. He was present in His Advocate, the Holy 
Spirit, who so definitely took charge of the work 
(Acts 2:4, 43; 4:31-33; 5:12-17; 8:6; 18:2, 4; 15:28; 
16:6, 7 etc). The Holy Spirit was so really present 
that Peter told Ananias that he had lied to the Holy 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Spirit (Acts 5:3). At Antioch ‘‘The Holy Spirit 
said separate me Barnabus and Saul for the work 
whereunto I have called them’’ (Acts 13:2) and how 
well He superintended that work is given in Acts 
13:5, 9; 16:6, 7 etc. Then in Heb. 2:4 we find ‘‘God 
also bearing witness with them, both by signs and 
wonders and by manifold powers and by gifts of the 
Holy Spirit according to His own will.’’ So we have 
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, each 
working in His divine efficiency, while using angels 
and men to produce an infallible ‘‘New Testament 
(Covenant) of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ 
Can we not trust them to tell how Jesus was born of 
a virgin, and that His body arose from the tomb? 
Do we really need the help of the Modernists, seeing 
that they were not present ? 


FALSE STATEMENTS OF MODERNISTS 


Listen to one of them, Theodore Heysham in his 
book ‘‘The Birth of the Bible’’ (page 15), who says 
‘‘Hor many years the fate of Jesus rested upon the 
accuracy of human memory and the integrity of 
human reports. Oral tradition for from twelve to 
twenty years was to bridge the gulf between Jesus’ 
life and the written records of his life.’’ How false! 
Those ‘‘ Twelve to twenty years’’ cover the time of the 
greatest illumination that heaven ever cast upon this 
earth. Not only was the Holy Spirit present to en- 
lighten and to empower Christ’s church, but, Christ, 


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THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


Himself was many times more real to them than when 
in the flesh. The ‘‘many things’’ of John 15:12 that 
they could not then bear, Jesus could now say unto 
them. ‘‘It is expedient for you that I go away’’ that 
the Comforter may come, says Jesus. Instead of there 
being a ‘‘gulf between Jesus’ life and the written 
records,’’ He was never before so alive to these apos- 
tles as in that period. Their comprehension of Him 
and His great mission and work was increased a 
thousand fold. Instead of resting upon human 
memory, Christ’s Advocate was present ‘‘to bring to 
their remembrance all that Christ had said unto 
theming 


THE BisLtE A UNIQUE Book 


The foolish claims of the Modernists that ‘‘Only 
that can be accepted which proves itself true in hu- 
man experience’’ and that the Bible must be treated 
as any other book is unscientific and illogical. Every 
one is supposed to believe that there is a God. The 
Bible claims to be a revelation from Him. God is 
the real author, but He speaks and acts through the 
human. He reveals Himself to mankind through 
His rich experiences with certain men, tribes and a 
nation. He touches man in his need, with His own 
divine presence by supernatural evidence which we 
eall miracles. Miracles do not manifest any more 
power, than the ordinary works of God, but they are 
out of the ordinary, different from ‘‘our experiences, ’’ 


[1038] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


for the very purpose to prove that God is speaking 
or acting. How would we know by any other means? 
From the first words ‘‘In the beginning God,’’ to 
the last, we find a history of God’s dealings with 
man in law, government, prophecies, admonitions, 
ete., until Jesus comes as the WORD—the full revel- 
ation of God to man. 


Gop FuLuyY REVEALED IN CHRIST 


Jesus the Christ reveals all of God that it is pos- 
sible for finite man to grasp. Who can comprehend 
the Infinite God, who has created and upholds by His 
presence and power the infinitesimal atom up to the 
mighty suns that make our ‘‘milky way’’ (Rom. 11: 
33). No wonder, that when one rejects Jesus as the 
perfect revelation of God, that he finds it very diffi- 
cult to believe in a personal God, whom the telescope 
and microscope puts far beyond his comprehension. 
But there is not one attribute of God as a personal 
Being, that is not manifested fully in Jesus, ‘‘His 
Only Begotten Son.’’ Is not infinite love shown by 
Him on the cross? Who can fathom the depths of 
such infinite compassion. Is not infinite power 
shown in the miracle of ‘‘the loaves and fishes,’’ 
which is the best attested of all of Christ’s miracles, 
and in His control over demons and nature and 
death? Is not infinite wisdom shown in His speak- 
ing for this age as well as for His own, and for all 


[109] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


time? How true are the words of Jesus, ‘‘He that 
hath seen Me hath seen the Father.’’ 


InLoGicAL MopERNISTS 


Now for our erudite Modernist to come up and 
demand that this book must be tested ‘‘by our human 
experience’’ and treated just as if it was written by 
uninspired men, isallogical. He throws out the super- 
natural claims of the author and all the supernatural 
proofs, given in such fullness, to substantiate those 
claims. We most certainly demur. We are in duty 
bound to examine these miracles; first to see if such 
miracles, etc., were performed, and second, to see 
if they adequately sustain the claims of the author 
and of the book itself. If these prove inadequate, 
then away with the book as a source of authority. 
But if these proofs are substantial and sufficient, as 
is the case with the Bible, then we must receive it as 
God’s inspired Word and thus having ‘‘ All Author- 
ity.’’? The claims of the modern skeptic is hke a man 
voing into court and demanding, that all of the legi- 
timate evidence that his opponent has, be set aside, 
and then to ask him to prove his cause. Of course 
it eannot be done. So the ‘‘modernist,’’ after he 
has set aside all of the evidences of Christ’s miracu- 
lous birth, and bodily resurrection and His miracles, 
because they are not accepted by his ‘‘inner Con- 
sciousness’’ (which he claims is the final source of 
authority) then he turns around and says ‘‘how may 


[110] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


we know where God has spoken in the Bible, or has 
He really spoken at all?’’ We do not know, if we 
accept his illogical and ruinous proposition. We will 
be just where he is, ready to follow any ‘‘will-o-the- 
wisp’’ into the swamps of doubt and delusions and 
despair. ‘‘Inner Consciousness!’?’ That was what 
Saul of Tarsus was following when he became ‘‘the 
chief of sinners.’’ ‘‘A new ideal has arisen as a 
test of Scripture,’’ says Dr. Heysham (page 128). 
‘‘Genuineness, apostolicity and usage have yielded 
to the ideal of experience’’ or ‘‘which proves itself 
to be true in human experience or which may be so 
proved’’ (page 121). Why, Brother, Jesus claims 
to be God’s ‘‘Only Begotten Son’’ (John 3:16). If 
He is the Only one, there have been none others since 
and how can we test this claim or that of his mir- 
acles “‘by our human experience.’’ (As the virgin 
birth and resurrection of Jesus are not occurring to- 
day, away with them is their teaching). ‘‘@enuine- 
ness, apostolicity and usage’’ are indeed thrown to 
the wind by these ‘‘Modernists’’ and also Aristotle, 
Mill, Bacon, ete., and even the science of Logic 
itself are thrown out by them as ‘‘back numbers.”’ 
Great 1s Inner Consciousness !! 

It is this loose thinking and reasoning of the Mod- 
ernist, and his lawlessness in matters of the Bible 
and its interpretation that are going to be a very 
important factor in bringing in the reign of ‘‘The 
Lawless One’’ of which this book treats. When 


[111] 


THE FUNDAMENTALS OF OUR FAITH 


logic as a science and proper exegesis of God’s Word 
are abandoned in order to save the immature, earth- 
born theory of Evolution—‘‘coming up out of the 
earth’’ (Rev. 13:11) then the end of this age draws 
near. 


[112] 


Part III 


THE BIBLE VERSUS 
MODERNISM 





CHAPTER XIII 


God’s Two Great Books 


FQ \HERE are two great books in which God re- 

veals Himself to man, viz., His Word, called the 
Bible; His works called Nature. To reject either 
one of these revelations is unreasonable and falla- 
cious. All christians, to whom God has been re- 
vealed through Jesus the Christ, see the revelation 
of God in nature as no one else. ‘‘The heavens de- 
clare the glory of God’’ to them in a way that was 
impossible to the ancient Greeks with all their wis- 
dom, or to any devotee of any non-christian religion 
to-day. It is not only necessary to recognize a ‘‘ First 
Great Cause,’’ or ‘‘The Unknown Source of All 
Things,’’ of which some of our learned scientists 
speak, but man wants to know the character of this 
Great Power that even ‘‘The poor Indian, with his 
untutored mind, sees God in the clouds and hears 
Him in the wind.’’ What are my relations to Him? 
What are His purposes concerning me? Why did He 
bring me into existence and what is my destiny? 
These are the burning questions that man wants to 
have solved; but which Nature has never answered 
and never can. The Bible however answers them 
with great fullness and clearness. 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


THe BIBLE AND MAN’s PROBLEMS 


The first chapters of Genesis give solutions to 
these problems more than the two large volumes of 
Mr. H. G. Wells in his ‘‘Outline of History’’ or all 
that Mr. Charles Darwin has ever written. ‘‘In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth’’ 
(Gen. 1:1). This single sentence tells us that it was 
God; and not one ‘‘who is inscrutable to the human 
intellect,’’ not ‘‘the unknown source of all things’’; 
but an All-Wise and All Powerful God who ‘‘cre- 
ated the heavens and the earth.’’ And He did this 
‘“in the beginning’’; and if that was ten billions of 
years ago, He was there creating in that beginning, 
until the special creative period passed. Again, 
‘‘God said, let us make man in our image, after our 
likeness’’; ‘‘and God created man in His own image, 
in the image of God created He him; male and female 
created He them’’ (Gen. 1:26, 27). Here we have 
answers to our questions. 


ORIGIN OF MAN 


Not only was the heavens and the earth created 
by this All-wise, powerful God; but man is created 
in His likeness and with His attributes, and so closely 
related to God as to be ‘‘in His own Image.’’ What 
a wonderful revelation! Man is so near to God, 
that he can associate with Him, and ean talk to God 
and to whom God ean reveal, not only Himself, but 
ean tell man about his origin, his relations to God 


[116] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


and to his fellowmen and God’s purposes in his crea- 
tion and his destiny. But not only do we have this 
revelation, the greatness of which we can only give 
a hint, but here is woman brought to the same ex- 
alted place as the man. She too is created in God’s 
image; for man-mankind is created both ‘‘male and 
female.’’ The attributes and nature of God, with its 
privileges and responsibilities and glory, are hers as 
much as Man’s. This is also true in the more detailed 
account as given in Gen. 2:21-24, where woman is 
‘“not taken from the foot of man to be trampled be- 
neath him; but is taken from his side to be his equal, 
from under his arm to be protected and from near 
his heart to be loved.’’ She is taken from man’s side 
to be placed back by his side that side by side they 
ean build the home. ‘‘Show me a place ten miles 
square where woman is treated with the respect that 
is her due, or has her rights’’ says James Russell 
Lowell, ‘‘and I will show you that there the Bible 
has gone.’’ 


ORIGIN OF THE Home 


But all of this is consummated in vs. 24. ‘‘There- 
fore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and 
shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one 
flesh.’ Not only is this the most concise and yet 
comprehensive statement in all literature concerning 
the home, but Christ makes this the basic law for 
marriage and adds ‘‘What, therefore, God hath 


[117] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


joined together, let not man put asunder’’ (Matt. 
19:5 ete.) referring to this statement in Gen. 2:24. 
This is the basic law of the Christian home to-day, 
and the home is the type of heaven and the true unit 
of the world. Note also, there is but the one hus- 
band and the one wife. No polygamy here. But 
there is still a larger truth, of which this is a per- 
fect example, which is revealed in the New Testa- 
ment. Jesus our Lord, as the ‘‘Second Adam,’’ had 
a deep sleep, the sleep of death come upon Him. 
And His side was opened by the eruel spear from 
whence ‘‘there came out water and blood’”’ (John 
19:34, 35; I John 5:6-8). Out of the redemptive 
power of this that came from ‘‘the riven side of 
Christ’’ is formed His Bride, the church, the second 
Eve, so that in the Millennium, she may reign by His 
side in great glory. This is an example of many 
spiritual truths that are nestled in the fieshly facts 
of this wonderful book of beginnings. 


ORIGIN OF SPECIES 


Not only do we find here the origin of the home 
but also the ‘‘Origin of Species’’ about which a 
myriad of pages have been written without much 
avail. ‘‘And God said let the earth put forth grass, 
herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit 
after their kind, wherein is the seed thereof, ete.’’ 
And God made the beasts of the earth after their 
kind, and the eattle after their kind, and everything 


[118] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


that creepeth upon the ground after its kind’’ (Gen. 
1:11, 25 ef. vs. 12, 21, 24). It is just as true to-day 
as when this law was written viz., every plant and 
‘*fruit tree brings forth after its kind.’’ Every apple 
tree produces apple trees and not a pear or peach 
tree, etc. It only produces after its own kind. This 
has been true in all the history of man and in all the 
pre-historic times. The same is true in all the his- 
tory of animal life. A horse or cow, lion or bear 
produces after its own kind. No horse produces a 
cow. It may produce a mule, but there it stops. The 
very word ‘“‘species’’ forbids any thing else. If ani- 
mals or plants were being changed by ‘‘sexual or 
natural selection’’ and by environment, etc., it would 
be done so gradually that the intermediates, bearing 
after their kind would obliterate all distinct lines 
and there would be no distinct species. 


Toe MAan-APE 


We are not disturbed over the frantic efforts that 
are being made to find the missing link. Whether 
it is this latest find in Bechuanaland or not matters 
very little. If the ‘‘Ape-man’’ or the ‘‘Man-ape’’ 
can be found, how does that prove that man, who 
certainly possesses God-like attributes ete., was ever 
an ape, who possesses none of these qualities. It can 
only show that God created this ape close to man 
in his body. We have nothing to say against the 
earnest, untiring efforts of Mr. Darwin or of the 


[119] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


great work that is carried on to-day to ascertain all 
that is possible of the secrets that this old earth con- 
tains. But let it be understood that they have dis- 
covered nothing that vitiates one sentence in this 
marvelous introductory chapter to the Bible. Divin- 
ity is stamped upon its every word. It not only fur- 
nishes a perfect start for all the great truths that 
follow, but furnishes a splendid base for any man 
or woman to build a character for all eternity. In- 
stead of digging in the mud or rocks, or living 
among the lower objects of life to find his origin, 
man is here told to look up unto God, who is his 
Father by creation and his spiritual Father by re- 
demption, which he will find so fully unfolded as 
he continues his study in the Book. 


THe Reau Missing Link 


Missing link! the missing link is not that great 
Separation between man and the ape that needs to 
be bridged over; but that stupendous separation that 
Sin produced and still produces between man and a 
holy righteous God. To find and put into its place 
this great link, it took God’s plan of redemption, 
which begins in Gen. 3:9, and continues over four 
thousand years taking even the death of His only 
Begotten Son, until the crucified Saviour arose from 
the dead and the Holy Spirit came with the Good 
Tidings of Salvation. All heaven is engaged in this 
stupendous task of putting this link into the chain 


[120] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


of man’s destiny; linking him up and binding him 
back to The Father’s Heart and life. 


ENTRANCE OF SIN INTO THE RACE 


The cause of this separation is set forth in Gen. 
3:1-21, which shows in a graphic manner that it was 
disobedience that separated man from God. The 
word ‘‘apple’’ is not even mentioned in the account. 
It is ‘‘the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’’ 
(Gen. 2:9, 17) that was forbidden. And when Adam 
and Eve partook of this fruit thus disobeying a 
positive command of God, they immediately had an 
experimental knowledge of evil, while before it 
might be only of the good. And every son and 
daughter of Eve, from that day to this, has been 
eating of the same fruit viz., knowledge by experi- 
ence of evil as well as of the good. Thomas Paine 
and Robert Ingersoll may poke fun with all the other 
‘‘Modernists’’ at this account, but they partook of 
this tree by a sad and bitter knowledge of evil with 
the good, until their strong bodies succumbed to its 
penalty. Evil and good are so mingled together in 
every Human life that none escape; and it is this 
consciousness of sin that causes man to ‘‘hide away’’ 
until the Father of Love calls him to Himself in the 
tender wooing voice of His Son and Spirit. Gen. 
3:9; Matt. 11:28-80; John 14:6: Rev. 22:17. 


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THE SUBTLETY OF THE TEMPTATION 


How subtle was the manner in which Satan led 
our first parents into sin. He tried the same tactics 
upon Jesus but met with overwhelming defeat. (1) 
‘‘Hood’’; Eve ‘‘saw the tree was good for food.’’ 
Appetite of the body, appealing to the flesh. (2) 
‘‘It was a delight to the eyes’’—sins of the mind; 
pleasures of the world; pride of life, ete. (3). to 
be desired to make one wise’’; Power that comes 
from knowledge (a ‘‘Faust’’) ; ambition to be satis- 
fied (a Napoleon) ete. The tempter tried these same 
subtle temptations upon Jesus. (1) ‘‘Turn these 
stones into bread.’’ Food for bodily appetite. (2) 
‘‘Cast thyself down’’ from this pinnacle; ‘‘for it is 
written He shall give His angels charge concerning 
thee’’ ete. Get the delight of being rescued by an- 
gels; win the applause of the world; take a short cut 
to glory. Sin of the mind. (3) ‘‘All the kingdoms 
of the world and the glory of them’’ ‘‘will I give 
unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.’’ 
Temptation for power, to satisfy ambition ete. ‘‘ Get 
thee hence, Satan’’ was the resentful ery of Jesus. 
Before these temptations the first progenitors of the 
human race went down and all their children have 
followed them. But the second One, Jesus the Christ, 
spurned these offers of Satan. Not only was He vic- 
torious, but He gives victory to all who accept and 
obey Him. ‘‘For in that, He, Himself, hath suffered 


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being tempted, He is able to succor them that are 
tempted (Heb. 2:18). It is not a story about an 
‘“‘apple,’’? which is not even mentioned; but a his- 
tory of a tragedy, sad enough to make angels weep, 
viz., the rebellious spirit of man put up against the 
will and love of Almighty God. This is the cause of 
man’s wandering in the wilderness of sin, which 
makes the Skeptic growl but not to repent. 


SUMMARY OF THE ORIGIN oF THINGS 


We have been looking briefly at the origin of 
things in this book of beginnings. We have seen 
the origin of the heavens and the earth, of life itself, 
of species, of man and of sin. In none of these ac- 
counts of these beginnings has there been a mistake 
made. The very things over which scientists are in 
doubt or know absolutely nothing are stated here in 
the clearest and most positive way. It was God who 
in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. 
It was ‘‘the Spirit of God that moved upon (or 
brooded over) the face of the waters.’’ This tells us 
that, of which the scientist knows nothing. What 
was that energy; or from whence came the force, 
that produced motion and finally sent this earth 
whirling through space as a burning ball. And when 
the billions of Niagaras pouring upon this earth had 
sufficiently cooled its surface, so that the waters 
eould settle into the deep crevices and recesses of 
the earth, which we call seas, then the dry land ap- 


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peared (vs. 9-10). This caused the separation between 
the waters in the clouds above and the waters be- 
neath (vs. 6-7). Then vegetation started, ‘‘(1) the 
grass; (2) the herb-yielding seed; (3) fruit trees’’ 
(vs. 11 a scientific arrangement) and then the sun 
which had been created in the beginning took its 
place, when the mists had cleared, to be the king 
of day and the moon, the queen of night (vs. 14-16). 
Then we have that sentence of five words that 
caused merriment to Mr. Ingersoll, viz., ‘‘“He made 
the stars also’’ (vs. 16). It takes God to tell so 
much in five words. But when we come to realize 
that each star, even those that form our ‘‘ Milky 
Way,’’ is a sun many times larger than ours, then 
we can understand the magnitude of this sentence, 
and Mr. Ingersoll’s horse-laugh sounds more like the 
bray of its half brother. God desires to have man 
know that he is not by himself alone, but is a part 
of mighty universes. That the same God who made 
man in His own image, made all of these heavenly 
bodies, the vastness and magnitude of which be- 
wilder us. 


No Trrpau Gop 


What a slander it is for some Modernists to as- 
sert that the God of the Jewish nation was a ‘‘tribal 
God.’’ There is not one sentence that gives support 
to such an error. The sentence in the preamble to 
the ‘‘Words of the covenant’’ the Ten Command- 


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ments is, ‘‘All the earth is mine’’ (Ex. 19:5); and 
this is a common statement throughout the book. 
That He was the God or Governor of the universe, 
using other nations to punish the Jews and using all 
nations to forward His purposes is shown all through 
the Bible. Jonah is sent to Ninevah, Elisha to Dam- 
ascus, and Daniel is God’s representative in Babylon 
and Nehemiah in Persia, ete. God ‘‘gives deliver- 
ance unto Syria’’ through Naaman, ete., (II K: 5:1). 
Every great city or nation in all the Jewish period, 
God depicted their history or doom, and every proph- 
ecy concerning them has proven true. 


OLp TESTAMENT INSPIRED 


Where is there any scientist of to-day that dares 
to attempt to write a cosmogony giving his views as 
positive as we find it in this first chapter of Genesis? 
If Moses obtained this knowledge from Egypt, etc., 
why do we not find some more of such sane, superb 
documents from the same source. To say that the 
Mythologies of these ancient nations is of like nature 
is to talk with a recklessness that is sickening. Why 
does not a Psalm burst forth from their archives like 
that of the nineteenth or twenty-third, which are re- 
peated with fervent delight by the noblest and wisest 
of today? Why do they not find a charming pastoral 
like the book of Ruth or a history of a Joseph, who 
as God’s man stands so transcendentally high, with 
its radiance enhanced by the dark background, from 


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whence we are told the religion of the Jews came. 
Why did not Henry George go back to these great 
sources? instead of taking the Mosaic government as 
the best government ever given to a nation. And 
why did William Blackstone declare that ‘‘any law 
that contravenes the divine law (meaning the 
Mosaic Jurisprudence) is null and void.’’ How does 
it come that the Bible, being written during a time 
when there were no sciences as we know them to- 
day; when the crudest and most ludicrous theories 
about the earth, ete., abounded on every side, and 
covering fourteen centuries in its writing, and yet 
none of these errors are found between the lids of 
the book. Turn on the light of the twentieth cen- 
tury. Let its searching light illuminate every page 
of the Bible and you will find nothing that contra- 
dicts what real science has discovered in God’s rev- 
elation of Himself in Nature. This proves conclu- 
sively that both of these books—that of Nature and 
the Bible—have the same author which is God. 


[126] 


CHAPTER XIV 


The Bible and the Critics 


IBLICAL criticism is very essential so that we 

may understand the Bible. God has revealed 

His will in the human language which makes it sub- 

ject to its laws of interpretation, whereby the mean- 

ing of its words may be ascertained. This process 
is called Exegesis of the Scriptures. 


TEXTUAL CRITICISM 


Textual criticism is a science, whereby the various 
manuscripts, which number about three thousand 
(many containing only parts of the Bible), are col- 
lected, collated and classified with the object in 
view of producing as nearly as possible, the original 
text or contents of the Bible. Men of devout and 
briluant minds and of much learning have given 
their lives to this very essential task, until their ef- 
forts are crowned with success. Concerning the va- 
rious readings, which at one time caused some alarm, 
Dr. Hort says, ‘‘that seven-eighths of the New Testa- 
ment is admitted by all to be above doubt.’’ ‘‘Of the 
one-eighth that remains, only in one-sixtieth of this 
one-eighth (which would be one-four-hundred and 
eightieth) is the sense of scripture affected’’ by the 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


various readings. ‘‘But of these various readings 
only one word in a thousand is affected in any sub- 
stantial way’’ and these are put at the bottom of 
the page in the ‘‘American Revised New Testament’’ 
so that any reader can see what they are. But even 
in these, ‘‘matters of doctrine, duty and privilege are 
unaffected by any of these changes.’’ So any reader 
can rest assured that he holds in his hand, in all its 
intents and purposes, the New Testament just as it 
came from the inspired writers. This is a marvel, 
and we are greatly indebted to these textual critics 
from John Mill down, many of whom like Tichen- 
dorf, shortened their lives to produce this great re- 
sult. 


HIGHER CRITICISM 


We wish we could say the same about ‘‘Higher 
Criticism,’’ which is ‘‘applying to the study of the 
scriptures, the methods of literary and historical in- 
vestigation.’’ The criticism of this method, as we 
have shown in another chapter, is that their appli- 
cation of it is both illogical and unscientific. The 
Bible is a unique book and must be studied with its 
peculiar claims in view. The majority of the Higher 
Critics with their arbitrary and illogical methods 
are classed by many as ‘‘ destructive critics.’’ Higher 
Critcism though, is not necessarily destructive criti- 
cism; on the contrary it might serve a very good 
purpose if it is used in a legitimate way. But when 


[128] 


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these higher critics, who dominate the whole school, 
assume that the Bible must be examined as if it was 
only a human production they pre-judge the case 
before the examination begins. The Bible claims 
that God has projected something that is above the 
human. That He is in the world and has given a 
revelation that is unique and its uniqueness is one 
of its great proofs that He has given it. God is 
super-human and in His unique revelation, He gives 
super-human proof that He, the super-human God 
has spoken. Now what right has man to come with 
his rules, whereby he judges his own human writ- 
ings, and where no inspiration is claimed, and by 
these rules examine God’s revelation where the 
proofs of its super-human source and contents are 
given in great fullness. Of course, we are to ex- 
amine these proofs by the common rules of evidence 
and if the claims of God are sustained, we are even 
then to interpret them by the rules that govern the 
human language by which He has spoken. But a 
historical proposition must be proven by historical 
evidence and not by a chemical analysis. So a super- 
natural proposition like a Revelation from God must 
be proven by supernatural evidence. The Bible does 
not claim to be a history but a Revelation. Our Lord 
understanding this has filled His book—the Bible 
with supernatural proofs from Gen. 1:1 to Rev. 22: 
21. While most of the rules of historical study may 


[129] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


be used, yet this central thought must be kept in 
view as they are applied to the Bible. 


New TESTAMENT WRITTEN IN First CENTURY 


Every book in the New Testament bears positive 
evidence that it was written in the first century. The 
thirteen epistles of Paul, two of Peter and James 
and Jude and Revelation have the signatures of the 
authors who positively state that they are the au- 
thors. Not only this, but, the contents prove the 
same, even to the smallest book where in Philemon 
Paul calls himself ‘‘Paul the aged.’’ Peter makes ~ 
allusions to himself (II Pet. 1:14-18), and John gives 
the same conclusive evidence that he wrote Revela- 
tion (Rev. 1:1, 9; 22:8). This makes eighteen books. 
Of course as these authors died in the first century, 
their books were written in that century; most of 
them about the middle of the century. John’s Gospel 
as we have already shown, was written by an eye 
witness and that John declares that he is the author. 
No one doubts that he wrote his three epistles be- 
eause of their similarity (I John 1:1-4; 4:7-11, etc.). 
Luke by using the personal pronoun ‘‘we’’ and ‘‘us’’ 
in Acts 16:10, 11; 20:5, 6, ete., shows that he is the 
author of Acts. The same one, who wrote Acts, also 
wrote the Gospel of Luke (Acts 1:1), which verse 
also shows that the Gospel was written first. As 
Acts was written before Paul’s death (63 A. D.), 
Luke must have written his Gospel between 50 and 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


60 A. D., or even before. This makes 24 out of the 
27 books of the New Testament that were written in 
the first century. 

Mark, we have noticed was intimate with the 
Apostles, especially with Peter and Paul. That he 
wrote the book that bears his name is almost uni- 
versally admitted and.the critics put his Gospel 
down as the first one of the four. 

Matthew, from the earliest mention of these sacred 
books, is accredited with the writing of the largest, 
most complete and orderly of the four Gospels and 
there is no reason to doubt it. He was quoted more 
than any of the other four by the early fathers. He 
was a state officer when Jesus chose him to do this 
important work, and the Holy Spirit endued him 
with power for the task (John 16:13; Matt. 9:9; 
10:3; Acts 1:13). He was well qualified for his work, 
both by former training and because of his Apostle- 
ship. 


MATTHEW AND MarK 


We take very little interest in the controversies 
of the critics. One day with them, it is Mark’s gos- 
pel that was written first and Matthew copied from 
it. But as any one can see, Matthew’s book contains 
nearly twice as many chapters and mentions so many 
things that Mark does not have. Then the next day 
it is Matthew who wrote first and Mark copied, giv- 
ing an abridged edition as it were. But lo, Mark 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


uses sixteen verses to describe the healing of the boy 
with the obstinate demon, while Matthew uses only 
eight. Mark uses 16 verses about the feeding of the 
five thousand, while Matthew uses only nine. In 
describing the healing of the man with a legion of 
demons, Mark uses nineteen while Matthew uses 
only seven verses, etc. But the omission of the 
names of Matthew and Mark in the text is an argu- 
ment in favor of the inspiration of the same. The 
quiet Matthew and timid Mark being thoroughly 
conversant with all the facts, were the very ones who 
could write these Gospels and omit their names from 
the text. But in reality it is not Matthew nor Mark 
who wrote these marvellous books that bear their 
names. It was the Holy Spirit that used both of 
these, while He guided every word. Matthew never 
wrote the Sermon on the Mount without immediate 
direction of the Holy Spirit. 


DIFFERENCES IN THE GOSPELS 


‘‘But,’’ says the eritic, ‘‘they tell the deeds and 
even the sayings of Jesus in a different way?’’ That 
makes their testimony all the stronger. We have 
four Gospels now when there would have been only 
one or two if they had been similar. Even because 
Matthew and Mark agree and are uniform in their 
statements in some portions, the critics are now dis- 
cussing which wrote first. The Holy Spirit knew 
that if these four Biographies were so similar, that 


[132] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


each one gave the statements of Jesus word for 
word, the critics would raise so much dust over which 
wrote first and which were copies etc., that it would 
be hard to see whether anything that is worth while 
had even been written. Any jurist knows that the 
testimonies of four witnesses, that contain variety 
enough to show independence of each other, and yet 
unity and agreement enough to make a harmonious 
whole, is the best testimony that can be given. This 
is true also as to number. To have more than four 
would be superflous. 


DIFFERENT STATEMENTS HARMONIZED 


But say the critics, ‘‘If one reports the saying of 
Jesus and another reports the same saying, using 
other words, how can we know which words were 
used by the Saviour?’’ The probability is that Jesus 
used both of these in his oft repeated teaching and 
the Holy Spirit uses both to give a fuller meaning. 
Remember Jesus was three and one-half years in his 
ministry and his teachings and deeds were so many 
that John says, ‘‘If they should be written, every 
one, I suppose that even the world itself would not 
contain the books that should be written’’ (John 
21:25). That is, the parchments would fail and the 
libraries would be overstocked. It took one whole 
chapter to tell of the incidents of Naaman’s healing 
in II Kings 5:1-27, while three verses (Matt. 8 :2-4) 
tell of the leper’s healing by Jesus in the New Testa- 


[133] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


ment. A reporter of to-day would cover the side of 
a newspaper to describe the same event. Remember, 
the teaching of Jesus orally to His disciples is one 
thing, and the choosing out of that teaching by the 
Holy Spirit for future generations is another thing. 
‘‘He shall take of mine and shall declare it unto 
you’’ (John 16:14). The teaching is the same but 
the method is different. 


DIFFERENT QUESTIONS IN OxIveET DiIscoURSE 


Where there is more than one account, they are 
to be put together, to bring out a harmonious whole. 
In the Olivet Discourse, Mark and Luke report the 
question of the four disciples to be, ‘‘Tell us when 
shall these things be?’’ (Mk. 13:4; Luke 21:7). 
Matthew (24:3) gives the question, ‘‘Tell us when 
shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of 
thy coming and of the end of the world (age).’’ 
Now Matthew defines what the ‘‘these things”’ are, 
viz., ‘‘The sign of thy coming and the end of the 
age.’’ Now for one to take Mark’s or Luke’s ac- 
count alone and interpret ‘‘these things’’ to be the 
destruction of Jerusalem alone, is not dealing fairly 
with this discourse. He must use the more definite 
question as stated by Matthew, even if he is to study 
the answer of Jesus as given in Mark or Luke. 
These three accounts must be treated as a whole, 
for Jesus said all that is recorded in each and prob- 
ably much more; but the Holy Spirit has given the 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


things of Christ (John 16:14) that was needed and 
with variations so that we can see this important dis- 
course from three sides. 


THE SERMON ON THE Mount 


The same is true concerning the supposed two re- 
ports of the Sermon on the Mount. Why should any- 
one assume that Matthew and Luke report the same 
sermon? The one given by the orderly Matthew 
covers three chapters while Luke covers only thirty 
verses. One is given on the mount, to his disciples 
away from the multitudes (Matt. 5:1) the other after 
he had come down from the mountain and stood on 
a level place (Luke 6:17). While both discourses 
were delivered to his disciples, Luke describes the 
‘‘oreat Multitude of his disciples and a great num- 
ber of the people’’ (Luke 6:17), whom Jesus healed 
after He had chosen His apostles on the mount, after 
spending a night in prayer. How likely it is that at 
such a solemn time, He should give to them this Con- 
stitution of the Christian Theocracy as recorded in 
Matt. 5th to the 7th chapters, and then coming down 
on the plain and seeing the great hungry, weeping, 
diseased mulitudes, He preaches again the great 
principles of His former sermon on the mount by ap- 
plying it to the needs of this vast multitude. ‘‘Blessed 
are ye poor’’; ‘‘Ye that hunger now’’; ‘‘Ye that 
weep now,”’ ete., (Luke 6:20, 21). He is not think- 
ing now of those ‘‘who hunger after righteousness’’ 


[135] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


nor the ‘‘poor in spirit’’ but of those who were really 
poor and were suffering real hunger, etc., How nat- 
ural it is that Luke, who told the parables of ‘‘Dives 
and Lazarus’’ the Good Samaritan, ‘‘The Prodigal 
Son,’’ ete., should record this second discourse of 
Jesus. Without doubt Jesus said all that is recorded 
in both of these sermons and also the other state- 
ments of the ‘‘Sermon on the mount,’’ that Luke 
seatters through his Gospel. When we behold the 
great variety in these four Gospels and yet see the 
wonderful Christ shining through them all: and also 
his wonderful teachings, when all are taken together 
forming such a harmonious whole; and all so con- 
sistent with His character and His divine purpose, 
we can have no doubt but that the real writer of 
these Biographies was the Holy Spirit who came for 
this very purpose. Four different personalities yet 
one Spirit shines in them all. And what we say of 
these, we say of all. 


HEBREWS 


The book called Hebrews, which is the last for us 
to examine comes under the same category. It seems 
natural to think of Paul as the author. Why should 
not he who loved his Hebrew brethren with such a 
passion have taken time to write a real treatise upon 
the great scheme of Redemption and dedicate it to 
his Jewish brethren. All of his other writings ex- 
cept Romans and Ephesians had been drawn from 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


him by needs of the churches, ete. This being more 
of a treatise might account for the difference in style 
which is not very marked. He would have reason 
for withholding his name. The writer was a 
‘‘brother’’ to Timothy and expected to be soon, a 
fellow traveler, (13:28). This puts it within the 
first century. But whoever wrote it, whether Paul 
or Apollos, the Holy Spirit had the writer under 
control, as seen in the majestic introduction and the 
logical and Scriptural way that the Christ and His 
New Covenant are shown to be so much superior to 
the Old. Then after giving his galaxy of heroes, he 
comes to exhortations much like Paul in Romans, al- 
though Paul after finishing his argument gives his 
fervent doxology, before his practical lessons and 
exhortations (Rom. 11:33-386). 


OMISSION OF NAME PROOF OF INSPIRATION 


The absence of a human name as the Author of 
any of these books is very significant and is an argu- 
ment in favor of their being inspired by God’s 
Spirit. The protruding of the names of Matthew or 
Mark into their Gospels would mar them and would 
seem out of place. By leaving out their names from 
all of these Gospels, Hebrews and the Pentateuch 
the writers want the real author, God’s Spirit, to 
stand out, while they, who were used largely as in- 
struments, were left in the background. These writ- 
ings move on so smoothly and with such continuity 


[137] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


that no devout reader would ever ask ‘‘what human 
writer wrote this’’ for it is all told with such posi- 
tiveness and in such a masterful way that brings 
conviction. He would not even notice that Moses’ 
death and burial was probably written by his suc- 
cessor Joshua, or that Joshua’s death was recorded 
by ‘‘the elders that out-lived Joshua.’’ It is so nat- 
ural. . 


Minor Appitions INSIGNIFICANT 


Neither is he geratly disturbed to find out that 
some devout copyist may have changed the name 
Laish to Dan; seeing its name was Dan when he was 
copying Gen. 14:14 (ef. Judges 18:24). Or, which is 
more probable, Lot’s captors were encamped at the 
great spring ‘‘called' Leddan, a probable corruption 
of Dan,’’ which is the main source of the River Jor- 
DAN. Neither is the devout believer disturbed be- 
cause some subsequent writer, that the Holy Spirit 
used, inserted the genealogy of Esau in Gen. 36 :9-48 ; 
(see 1 Chron. 1:85-54). He is not so foolish as to 
assert that all of this history in Genesis, which bears 
every evidence of being written by an eye witness 
was not written until after ‘‘there were kings in 
Israel,’’ ete., etc. The Holy Spirit in dismissing the 
history of Esau could leave this genealogy to be 
filled in, as it was kept, as is shown in Chronicles. 
The devout believer is not ransacking heaven and 
earth to discover the human element in these sacred 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


writings. His great delight is to see the Divine Spirit 
of God that shines forth in all of its contents. The 
Higher Critic is ike a man picking to pieces a rose 
to ascertain its structure. Though he may find the 
number and position of its leaves, its beauty has 
gone forever. 


SIGNIFICANCE OF SATAN’S ATTACK 


One thing is very significant; their attacks have 
always been upon the books that contain the clearest 
prophecies, viz., Deuteronomy, Daniel and Revela- 
tion. And yet these are the books that have the 
strongest internal evidence that they were written 
by, or at least, in the times of Moses, Daniel and 
John respectively. Why is this? Satan fears these 
prophetic books, which are as sure evidence of the 
Bible’s inspiration as the miracles themselves. Deut. 
28 :49-68 gives as vivid a description of the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem under Titus Caesar, and the dis- 
tressful history of the Jews even to our day, as any 
history can describe (see ch. XIX). And Deut. 30: 
1-10 as surely depicts the return of the Jews to their 
own land and a return to even greater prosperity; 
while the prophecies of Daniel are an epitome of the 
history of the human race. 


DEUTERONOMY WRITTEN IN TrmeE oF MOSES 


That Deuteronomy was written just before the 
Israelites crossed the Jordan into Canaan, is so 


[139] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


strongly buttressed by internal evidence that there 
is no reason for a doubt. To say that this book was 
written by Hilkiah and palmed off on King Josiah 
and all the elders of Jerusalem as this ancient ‘‘book 
of the law’’ is so incredible, that it tries one’s pa- 
tience to deal with it seriously. Let anyone read 
earefully the book of Deuteronomy and then read 
the account of the finding of this book by Hilkiah, 
as given in IT Kings 22 :8-23; 1-83; IJ Chron. 34:14-33, 
and he will see how unlikely it is that Hilkiah wrote 
the book of Deuteronomy at that time, and made 
the people believe it was the ‘‘book of the law,’’ 
that Moses had written and put in the side of the ark 
of the covenant where undoubtedly Hilkiah found 
it, (Deut. 31:24-26). It is called ‘‘The Book of the 
Covenant’’ for Moses placed it by the ark of the 
covenant. It is called ‘‘the book of the law of 
Jehovah given by Moses’’ (II Chron. 34:14). If Hil- 
kiah wrote this book and said it was ‘‘ The law of God 
given by Moses,’’ he was an old fraud and he would 
be a great man to lead in a great reformation. Then 
Huldah the prophetess of God was deceived for she 
called this book God’s word (II Chron. 34:24), and 
her word of prophecy proved true, for Josiah was 
gathered to his fathers and his eyes did not see the 
retribution that fell upon that fated city. The book 
of Deuteronomy contains not a hint that it was writ- 
ten by Hilkiah or his cotemporaries but a thousand 
hints to show it was written before Israel crossed the 


[140] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Jordan. It is very evident that Moses wrote that 
which is included in the first person. The rest could 
have been written by scores of those who had ‘‘the 
Spirit of Wisdom,’’ that were with Moses, but under 
his direction. 


Hoxy Spirit Uses Many 


It is the Spirit of God that uses whom He pleases 
(I Cor. 12:10) that makes the history move on so 
smoothly without any hesitation even through the 
death of Moses and his burial. Then after He pro- 
nounces over Moses the encomium found in Deut. 34: 
10-12, He drops the mantle of government upon 
Joshua his successor with no break whatever. No 
other history is written like this. It is this divine 
mind and hand that we are contending for, that is 
displayed all through the Bible. The Holy Spirit 
had men, whom he could use like Joshua, Samuel and 
many during the reigns of David and Solomon, 
down to the devout Priest-Scribe Ezra, who could 
write and rewrite documents that had already been 
written by eye-witnesses. All devout, discerning 
students have generally believed that there were a 
number of different documents put together, prob- 
ably by Moses, that make up the history through 
Genesis. Whoever and however it is, there is the 
same guiding mind and hand. He showed himself to 
Joshua (1:1, 2; 5::13-15) as He had done to Abra- 
ham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses. Certainly we can 


[141] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


trust Him that the history is truly and faithfully re- 
corded. Of course some one had to connect together 
the fragments of history, written by faithful re- 
corders during the time of the Judges. But one 
glorious fact stands out in this whole Old Testament 
history, and that is the great central idea is to un- 
fold the Coming Deliverer, Jesus the Christ. The 
Spirit of God kept Him in view from the Garden of 
Eden to the last of Malachi, where he foretells the 
coming of His forerunner, John the Baptist. Not 
only is He the heart of the covenants and promises 
and prophecies, but fourteen chapters of Genesis are 
given to the life of Joseph, as Alexander Campbell, 
one of the keenest of Bible Critics, has shown, be- 
cause he is a type of Christ. And the same is true of 
Moses. ‘‘For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of 
prophecy’’ (Rev. 19:10). 


[142] 


CHAPTER XV 


Objections Turned Into Proofs 


HE objections offered by Modernists when eare- 

fully examined, turn into proofs of the inspira- 
tion of the Bible. We have already seen that the ab- 
sence of the author’s name in such books as the Gos- 
pels is an argument in favor of inspiration instead 
of against it. How thankful we are that the Holy 
Spirit arranged the books and their contents to read 
so smoothly, as though written by one person, and 
did not leave it to the Higher Critics, who would 
have so split it up, even in a verse, that the Bible 
would read like the man said about reading the dic- 
tionary ‘‘good, but it changed subjects so often.’’ 
What a blessing it is that we have two accounts of 
the ‘‘model prayer’’ to keep us from being parrots 
and becoming too formal in our prayers. Then the 
two genealogies of the Christ were needed; one by 
Matthew to show that Jesus was a Royal descendant 
of David through Joseph his legal father; while the 
other by Luke to show that Jesus was a blood de- 
scendant of David by Mary his mother, who was a 
descendant of David through his son Nathan. Both 
of these tables meet in Shealtiel and Zerubabel and 


| [143] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


probably in Matthan or (Matthat) who would be a 
grandfather to both Joseph and Mary. The line of 
succession to the throne very often differs from the 
blood line, hence the variety in these tables. It is 
suggestive, that the angel says to Mary without any 
reference to Joseph, that ‘‘God shall give unto him 
(her son) the throne of His father David’’ (Luke 
1:32). He was the Son of David through Mary even 
if she had not married Joseph, for God was His 
Father. But He became an heir to the throne Tene 
Joseph being born in wedlock. 


THE WARS OF THE BIBLE 


One of the things that brings forth the most vio- 
lent attacks of Mr. Thomas Paine, Robert Ingersoll 
and the Critics of the Bible in general, is ‘‘those ter- 
rible wars in the Bible.’’ But why such special de- 
nunciation of these wars above others? Wars are 
terrible at their best, for their very purpose is to 
destroy lives and property. But ‘‘wars and rumors 
of wars’’ will continue until ‘‘The Prince of Peace’’ 
shall return and usher in His reign of righteousness. 
These fulminations of these enemies of the Bible are 
the merest buncombe. Mr. Ingersoll was ealled Col. 
Ingersoll, which meant that he enlisted and led into 
the Civil War, one thousand men. Suppose some 
orator from the South would describe their work as 
he and Mr. Paine describe the wars in the Bible. He 
could work himself into an awful fury, and belch 


[144] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


forth his venemous feelings by telling truthfully 
how ‘‘they killed the brave men of the South, burned 
their homes, devastated their farms and country, 
leaving nothing but smoking ruins of cities and vil- 
lages in their path.’’ ‘‘They made orphans and 
widows and filled the land with terrors and tears.’’ 
And then rising into a terrible state, he could foam 
out his impreeations upon Col. Ingersoll as the most 
atrocious fiend that ever lived. ‘‘Oh,’’ the answer 
would be, ‘‘these men were fighting to preserve the 
Union.’’ They were willing to shed even their own 
blood and treasures, so that the union might be kept 
intact, so that ‘‘old glory’’ could float over a land as 
it does to-day, where there is no North, and no 
South. 


Gop’s GREAT Purposes Hap to Bg PRESERVED 


Well God had something to defend. The knowl- 
edge of the One God and Creator had come into 
men’s hearts and lives and this precious truth and 
light must be preserved at any cost. Individuals 
and then a nation had to be set apart as was the 
Israelites in the wilderness for forty years. The 
tabernacling of God with that nation of slaves until 
it became the best organized, the best educated and 
the best governed nation that the world has ever 
seen, is one of the marvels of history. What a differ- 
ence between that murmuring, rebellious, cowardly 


[145] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


people, who turned back from the borders of Canaan, 
and that nation of the hardy sons of the desert, who 
thirty-eight years later marched in perfect order and 
discipline through the separated waters of Jordan, 
with only the ark of God and the tables of the 
Covenant as their constitution in their midst. How 
with these divine fundamentals of law, equity and 
righteousness in the center, did they march in per- 
fect order, in humble obedience to their God as King, 
around the stronghold of Jericho until its walls fell 
before the songs, shouts and trumpet blasts of a 
mighty conquering host. Oh, that they might have 
so continued. But God had given to the world a 
people wearing His Name. If our Higher Critics 
would spend more time in tracing out the tremen- 
dous influence of this Theocracy upon Hgypt and 
Babylon and that of Joseph two hundred years 
earlier instead of finding out how much Moses copied 
from Egypt it would be much more profitable. All 
of these purposes had to be defended. Then God was 
working out a plan and setting in motion forees 
that would bring into the world ‘‘The Prince of 
Peace’’ who would usher in a heavenly Era where 
the ‘‘swords shall be beaten into plowshares and the 
nations will learn war no more.’’ And if nations 
had to be destroyed, yea, even if His chosen people 
had to be given over to the awful scourge of war, 
and their capital and land destroyed, and even the 


[146] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


temple that had been dedicated to Him plundered 
and razed to the ground, it was a price none too 
¢reat in order that this reign of Peace and Glory 
could come. 


Bap CHARACTERS OF THE BIBLE 


Thomas Paine and his disciple Robert Ingersoll 
and the Modernists of our day are greatly disturbed 
over the sins of David and ‘‘ Mistakes of Moses”’ ana 
of the prophets in general. But their fulminations 
only prove that God is the author of the Bible. 
Where is there any other history that gives chapter 
after chapter in describing with such faithfulness 
the great sins and their consequent punishment of 
their greatest and most loved King, as the Bible 
does in the life of David? Instead of covering up or 
smoothing it over, like human writers, every subter- 
fuge about ‘‘the sword devoureth one as well as an- 
other’’ (II Sam. 11:25) is swept away by the scorch- 
ing words of the prophet Nathan direct from God’s 
direction, as he says, ‘‘David, thou art the man.’’ 
“Thou hast smitten Uriah the Hittite with the 
sword’’; ‘‘and has slain him with the sword of the 
children of Ammon’’ (II Sam. 12:7, 9). The putting 
of this noble warrior in a place of danger, where 
‘‘some one had to go,’’ did not count with God. And 
this is characteristic of the whole book for it is God 
that is directing the story. 


[147] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Proor THat Gop Is THE AUTHOR 


It is a proof of great magnitude that God is the 
real author of the Bible. What man ever writes his- 
tory like this. It is very fortunate for the reputation 
of these traducers of David that God has not pub- 
lished the secrets of their lives, where every evil 
thought and deed is dragged out into the light in 
all its hideousness as God has done with these char- 
acters in the Bible. The Bible is the best book in 
the world in which to study human nature. Haw- 
thorne in his ‘‘Scarlet Letter’’ falls far short and 
Shakespeare becomes tame in comparison. 


Not to Guory In MEN 


The Bible not only reveals God, but it reveals man 
in all his frailty to himself. It is certainly a ‘‘Look- 
ing Glass.’’ God writes these things from His stand- 
point and not that of man’s. Then again what hu- 
man historian would give only a few verses to the 
eonquests of its greatest king and many chapters to 
describe his sins and humiliation. Very few people 
know that David was one of the most powerful mon- 
archs of his day. His conquests were great and 
glorious from a military point of view. But God the 
real historian, instead of mentioning this with 
praise, has it recorded that for this cause he could 
not build God’s temple because ‘‘Thou art a man of 
war and hast shed blood’’ (I Chron. 28:3). Tested 


[148] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


at their strongest point, yet these Bible characters 
failed. Abraham, ‘‘the father of the faithful’’ was 
punished for a lack of faith. Moses, ‘‘the meekest 
of men’’ lost the promised land because of his irri- 
tation and presumption. David who showed such 
magnanimity to Saul et. al., yet did some of the most 
ignoble deeds. All this is to show that man should 
not ‘‘glory in the flesh.’’ 


Tue BIBLE AND SLAVERY 


Some have claimed that human slavery is upheld 
by the Bible. But it is not true. The Bible found 
this institution in the world and regulated it until 
the Bible’s influence banished it from all civilized 
governments. How ean it exist wherever Jesus casts 
His light, saying, ‘‘Call no man Master; for all ye 
are brethren.’’ His parables of ‘‘ Dives and Lazarus’’ 
and of the ‘‘Good Samaritan,’’ show that not only 
one man must not hold his fellowman as a chattel, 
but that he is under obligation to share with the 
needy, even by his property and time. The great 
apostle Paul in his letter to Philemon shows how 
Christianity does away with slavery wherever it has 
control. Here is Onesimus, a runaway slave, whom 
Paul calls his spiritual child. In returning him to 
his master, he tells Philemon to ‘‘receive him no 
longer as a servant, but more than a servant, a 
brother beloved.’’ ‘‘If then thou countest me a 
partner, receive him as myself.’’ Jesus says, ‘‘I 


[149] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


came not to be ministered unto but to minister.’’ 
‘Whosoever would be first among you shall be your 
servant.’’ Before such teaching, human slavery can 
not endure, anymore than the frost can remain be- 
fore the rays of the sun in June. 


ABRAHAM OFFERING Up ISAAc 


Some seem to think that this was a relic of offer- 
ing human sacrifices; but this cannot be true. First, 
this idea did not spring from the heart of Abraham 
but was only in obedience to God’s command. He 
was no fanatic, but quickly accepted the substitute. 
It was a supreme test. Nothing similar to it is in 
human history. For decades Abraham had waited 
for this heir. He was his only possible hope of God’s 
promises being fulfilled that ‘‘from him’’ nations 
should be born and blessed. Now he is commanded 
to ‘‘take thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, 
even Isaac, and offer him as a burnt-offering’’ ete., 
(Gen. 22:2). And when Abraham proceeded to obey, 
God stayed his hand and provided a ram instead. 
This is one of God’s great object lessons, found in 
the Old Testament, fore-shadowing the time when 
God the Father was to offer up ‘‘His Only Begotten 
Son’’ (Heb. 11:17-19; John 3:16) as an offering for 
sin. But O, Father, when thine ‘‘Only Begotten 
Son’’ whom thou didst so dearly love, was bound to 
the cross, there was no one to stay thy hand and the 
terrible sacrifice had to be made. Parental Love 


[150] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


must have tugged mightily at thy heart, but thy 
wonderful compassion for a world lost in sin was 
even greater. For you ‘‘So Loved that you So gave’”’ 
(John 3:16). Each ‘‘So”’ represents Infinity itself. 
How came this account that parallels to perfection 
the greatest event that has ever occurred upon the 
earth; which certainly was written hundreds of 
years before Christ’s crucifixion. Read again this 
touching story found in Gen. 22:1-14. Notice the 
conversation between father and son (vs. 6-8) as 
‘‘they went both of them together’’ (vs. 6, 8) and 
think of yourself and your son under like cirecum- 
stances. And then look up unto God and your weep- 
ing heart will cause you to understand better the 
Father’s heart and tremendous sacrifice when He 
‘‘oave His Only Begotten Son.’’ There is nothing 
in the Old or New Testaments to surpass it. Again 
we ask, how did it get into this ancient book unless 
God put it there? 


Uniry oF Otp AND New TESTAMENT 


The Old Testament is inspired as well as the New. 
They constitute a harmonious whole. The Old is the 
New concealed in its types and prophecies and ex- 
amples, while the New is the Old Testament revealed 
in the fulfillment of all these. About one hundred 
and fifty prophecies relate to Christ alone. Nothing 
in the Bible describes the suffering Christ more than 
Is. 58:1-12; Ps. 22:1-24. It is, as if different artists 


[151] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


were to paint on a large canvas. One would paint a 
few brushes in one place, then another in some other 
corner, etc., one paying no attention, seemingly, to 
the others, until the canvas is covered. And lo, there 
stands out before you the portrait of the glorious 
Christ. This is not an illustration simply, but a 
glorious reality. During a period of a thousand 
years, from Moses to Malachi, the revelation of the 
Christ is given in marvellous beauty and faithfulness 
in the Old Testament. Beginning in Eden you will 
see Him who was to crush the serpent’s head. Then, 
you will behold Him in Abel, Enoch, Isaac, Joseph, 
Moses, Joshua, and David. In his most exalted 
lyrics, Isaiah describes his coming reign, giving us 
His names as ‘‘ Wonderful; Prince of Peace,’’ ete. 
It is of this ‘‘Suffering One’’ that his most plaintive 
tones are sounded. Not only do we find Him the 
centre and heart of the prophetic Poets, but the 
‘‘Songs of Israel’’ are filled with wonderful melody 
about HIM. It is sometimes all glorious like the see- 
ond and twenty-fourth Psalms; then again it is 
calm and peaceful like a summers eve, as given in 
Psalm twenty-three. Then it sounds the jubilant 
note of praise in the one hundred and third, and of 
protection in the missionary’s hymn, ninety one; 
and at last sinks into a mournful dirge in the twenty- 
second. But the burden of all is about JESUS, The 
COMING ONE. 


[152] 


CHAPTER XVI 


Fosdick’s Hebrew Universe 


ENRY EMERSON FOSDICK, in his reply to 

W. J. Bryan, some time ago, has a subhead, 
‘‘The Hebrew Universe,’’ that takes us back to the 
days of Robert Ingersoll. After stating that ‘‘the 
Bible represents in its cosmology and cosmogony 
the view of the physical universe, which everywhere 
obtained in the ancient Semitic world,’’ he proceeds 


to give that view. ‘‘The earth was flat and was 
founded on an underlying sea (Ps. 136:6; 24:1-2; 
Gen. 7:11).’’ ‘‘The heavens like an upturned bowl, 


‘strong as a molten mirror’ (Job 37:18; Gen. 1:6-8; 
Is. 40:22; Ps. 104:2), rested on the earth beneath 
(Amos 9:6; Job 26:11); the sun, moon and stars 
moved within this firmament of special purpose to 
illumine man (Gen. 1:14-19); there was a sea above 
the sky, ‘the waters which were above the firmament’ 
(Gen. 1:7; Ps. 148:4) and through ‘the windows of 
heaven the rain came down (Gen. 7:11; Pr. 78:23).’’ 

Mr. Fosdick’s first three references (Ps. 186:6; 
24 :1-2; Gen. 7:11) fail to prove his statement. The 
first two, ‘‘God spread forth the earth above the 
waters’’; ‘‘He hath founded it upon the seas’’ only 
teach that the earth is higher than the sea. All the 


[153] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


land that is covered by the water is called sea, ete., 
and all that is above or higher than the sea is called 
earth; so ‘‘the earth is above the waters’’ in that 
sense. If one-third of the earth was not ‘‘above 
the waters’’ it would be all sea. Ps. 24:1-2 is a 
poetical expression that speaks of things as they 
appear. Such use of speech is legitimate to-day. 
Jonah, when sunken to the depths of the sea, said, 
‘‘The deep was round me; the weeds were wrapped 
about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the 
mountains’’ (Jon. 2:5, 6). He knew that when one 
went to the bottom of the sea that he struck the 
earth; and it was ‘‘at the bottoms of the moun- 
tains.’’ That is, the sea was simply water filling the 
valley between the mountains. This refutes Mr. 
Fosdick’s statement. Neither does the next refer- 
ence (Gen. 7:11) give any support to his statement. 
‘“‘Mhe same day were all the fountains of the great 
deep broken up’’ is what occurred at Tokio in the 
greath earthquake when the tidal waves came roll- 
ing in. One of these great tidal waves swept up the 
sides of the Andes mountains a few decades ago 
leaving much destruction in its wake. They are 
caused probably by some great voleanic upheaval 
like an island thrown up out of the sea. It denotes 
nothing more than a great commotion in the sea as 
one of the causes of the deluge and has nothing to do 
with Mr. Fosdick’s statement. When only one sen- 
tence is used to describe such a tremendous phenom- 


[154] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


enon it is given in strong figures of speech like ‘‘the 
windows of heaven were opened’’ which Mr. Fosdick 
very foolishly takes to be literal. Has not he, with 
his scientific knowledge used the expressions, ‘‘The 
rain poured down’’; ‘‘came down in great sheets,’’ 
ete.? It may not be any more foolish for Mr. Fos- 
dick to make such a silly statement about ‘‘the win- 
dows of heaven’’ than Mr. Ingersoll but it is more 
lamentable because of his position. Let us notice 
some more of his statements. 


THe UpturNnep Bown 


A careful study of these other references will show 
that they disprove, rather than prove his statements. 
Job 37:18; 26:11 is not God speaking, but Elihu and 
Job, who afterwards said, ‘‘I uttered things I under- 
stood not and knew not’’ (Job 42:3). But do we not 
hear even scientists talking about ‘‘the vaulted 
sky?’’ ‘‘the sky as a dome’’? Do we not hear even 
in our scientific age about ‘‘The heaven being as 
brass over us,’’ and about the ‘‘leaden sky?’’ But 
Is. 40:22; Ps. 104:2, Mr. Fosdick’s other references 
speak of the heavens being as a curtain and a tent. 
‘“He, (God) stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain 
and spreadeth them out as a tent.’’ ‘‘Who stretch- 
eth out the heavens like a curtain.’’ These refute 
Mr. Fosdick’s contention that the Bible teaches that 
the heavens are an upturned bowl and a molten bowl 
at that. It is ‘‘spread out like a curtain.’’ Has not 


[155] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Mr. Fosdick heard even in these days about the 
‘‘eanopy of heaven?’’ It is a shame for Mr. Fosdick 
to take these expressive figures out of the poetry of 
the Bible and make them literal. Amos 5:8; 9:6 
teaches the very opposite that ‘‘the sea is above the 
sky.’’ It says ‘‘God ecalleth for the waters of the 
sea and poureth them out upon the face of the 
earth.’’ This is exactly as we speak to-day. The 
waters that come up out of the sea are ‘‘poured out 
in rain upon the face of the earth.’’ Instead of this 
being the language of the ancients it describes the 
laws of evaporation and condensation. 


THE FIRMAMENT 


Mr. Fosdick’s false conception about the ‘‘sea be- 
ing above the sky’’ rests upon Gen. 1:7, for cer- 
tainly these other figurative expressions do not teach 
it. Let us carefully examine this verse. The word 
‘‘expanse,’’ is given in the margin as the meaning 
of the Hebrew (see American Standard Version) in 
the place of the word firmament. We have no word 
for this space between the clouds above and the sea 
beneath. The word expanse or expansion is the best 
that can be used. It expresses exactly what scien- 
tists say occurred. This earth as a hot sphere could 
not retain the waters that kept pouring upon it. As 
there was as much water then as now, there would be 
billions of Niagaras pouring upon the earth’s hot 
surface. It would arise in steam until it would be 


[156] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


condensed by the upper air and then descend again 
so that there would be no division between the 
waters above and the waters beneath. "When the 
earth was sufficiently cooled then the water could 
remain and be ‘‘gathered together’’ as ‘‘seas’’ (vs. 
9,10). Then there would come a division between 
the waters in the clouds (much more up there then) 
and the waters that had settled into the deep re- 
cesses of the earth. Now this space between the two 
is called an ‘‘expanse.’’ So ‘‘God made the expanse 
and divided the waters which were under the ex- 
panse from the waters which were above the ex- 
panse and it was so. And God ealled the expanse 
Heaven’’ (vs. 7, 8). The word expanse expresses ex- 
actly what science says occurred, and the margin 
gives ‘‘Hebrew expanse’’ for the word firmament. 
It was in this ‘‘expanse’’ that we find in vs. 14 that 
‘‘God said Let there be lights in the expanse of 
heaven’’; ‘‘And God set them in the expanse of 
heaven to give light upon the earth’’ (vs. 17). Is 
not that scientific? It does not say that they were 
created in the fourth period, but that it was in this 
period that the atmosphere was cleared sufficiently 
of mist so that the heavenly luminaries could begin 
their work. They were created ‘‘in the beginning’’ 
(Gen. 1:1). The word day is used in Gen. 2:4 to 
cover the whole period of creation and so ‘‘day”’ 
may be used to describe great periods of time. Men do 
not want to come with a two-foot rule to measure the 


[157] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


events of this great chapter. Perhaps Mr. Fosdick 
will write for us a better cosmogony if he is not sat- 
isfied with this one. His statement that the Bible 
view is the same as that ‘‘which obtained in the an- 
cient Semitic world’’ is absolutely false. There is all 
the difference between this first chapter of Genesis 
and the Babylonian or Phoenician records of crea- 
tion as there is between the Divine and human; be- 
tween the truths and myths. It is strange that one 
of Mr. Fosdick’s spiritual conception, cannot discern 
this distinction. Let us glance at an extract taken 
from ‘‘ Hastings Dictionary of the Bible’’ page 504, 
col. 2, in which is an account of creation as given in 
the Babylonian records which are said to be the most 
similar to the Bible account. 

‘‘Primarily, all consisted of darkness and water, 
and strange creatures of peculiar form arose therein. 
There were men with two wings, some also with four 
wings and two faces, and some which had one body 
but two heads, one male and the other female—other 
men with goats’ feet and horns or with horses’ feet 
or like horses behind and like men in front.’’ ‘‘Over 
them reigned a woman, Om Orka, which in Chaldee 
is Thamte, in Greek Thalassa. Under this condition 
of the world Bel came over, cleft the woman in 
twain, and made from one-half of her the earth and 
from the other the heavens and destroyed the beasts 
which belonged to her.’’ As this is so similar to the 
first chapter of Genesis, how thankful we are that 


[158] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Moses did not make a mistake and put this account 
in the place of our Majestic ‘‘In the Beginning 
God.’’ God forbid that we should laugh at the poor 
Babylonian groping his way through the darkness 
to find some solution to these great problems. But 
for the Modernist, who thinks that he finds in these 
grotesque accounts the sources from whence came 
these divinely inspired and God given records in the 
Bible, we can produce only a smile, that even a 
Bryan can hardly make. Of course the Bible is not a 
treatise upon science. That is not its purpose. God 
has left it to man to dig out the seerets of the earth 
and He gives him here the largest freedom. The 
Bible treats of things of much more value to man: 
things about which science knows nothing. But the 
Bible, if it is God’s word, cannot contradict true sci- 
ence. They must both speak alike when they speak 
of things common to both. 

But God must speak in a way to be understood by 
the people He addresses. <A scientist speaks of the 
sun rising and setting, when he knows that scien- 
tifically it is not true. But according to the law of 
language it is true; for to him and others the sun 
does set and then rise again. This great first chapter 
of Genesis has stood as a great revelation amidst 
all the changing systems of Astronomy and Geology. 
It has spoken its message of light and power to all 
alike in every clime and amidst all conditions. Geolo- 
gists like Hugh Miller and Sir William J. Dawson 


[159] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


revel in its light as viewed from the facts that the 
rocks unfold and the heavens display, and yet the 
ignorant, who still think the earth is flat (by the way 
the Bible nowhere says ‘‘the earth is flat’’) and God 
has hung up His great lights in the heavens for 
man’s benefit, receive its light with joyful praise. 
This is one great argument for believing it is in- 
spired of God. It bears the marks of the Infinite. 

The Old Testament abounds in so many poetical 
expressions that it is not strange that a few state- 
ments can be found that one, who has been looking 
so long into Ancient Mythology might think were simi- 
lar. Again we say that every attack upon the in- 
spiration of the Bible proves, when carefully exam- 
ined, that it is God’s Infallible Word. If Mr. Fosdick 
after searching through its pages cannot find more 
than he has in this last attack, its inspiration is im- 
pregnable. The Bible is like the Rock of Gibralter. 
The higher the wave that dashes against its surface, 
the deeper, in its receding, does it reveal the eternal 
foundations upon which it rests. 


[160] 


CHAPTER XVII 


Modernism and Satan 


T is with some hesitation, that we write this chapter 

and give to it the above title. We bear only the 
kindest feelings toward the Modernists, some of whom, 
are personal friends. But faithfulness to God’s Word 
leads us to write with all the power that God gives 
against their dangerous and fallacious teachings. It 
does not follow that one is devilish, because his name 
is used in connection with Satan: for Peter was 
clutched and was almost brought under Satan’s 
power, if Jesus had not rescued him. Paul says ‘‘We 
are not ignorant of his devices’’ and even Jesus found 
Himself in company with Satan in His temptation. 
Peter tells us that ‘‘Your adversary, the devil, as a 
roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may de- 
vour’’ (I Pet. 5:8); and it behooves us all to know 
that he is still on his beat; and more to be dreaded 
since ‘‘Satan can fashion himself into an angel of 
entes (LieCorv ll :14): 


THOMAS PAINE AND AGE OF REASON 


Our apology for mentioning Thomas Paine and his 
book ‘‘The Age of Reason’’ is that we understand 


[161] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


that a professor in a great university enrolling over 
three thousand students, gave this book to his class 
of about one hundred and fifty students to read and 
report thereon, with a threat that if they refused their 
average would be reduced. We are glad to be in- 
formed that only five so reported. The forcing of 
such a book upon so large a class of such a great 
institution, shows the tendencies of our time. Let us 
look at some of the delectable sayings found in this 
book. ‘‘It (the Bible) is a book of lies, wickedness 
and blasphemy.’’ ‘‘Among the detestable villains 
that in any period of the world have disgraced the 
name of man, it is impossible to find a greater than 
Moses, if this account be true.’’ This is said because 
of the exigencies of war and of the segregation of the 
nation. 


THE Gop or NATURE AND BIBLE COMPARED 


Mr. Paine was a Deist and says some fine things 
about seeing God through Nature. But how about 
his God of nature that permitted thousands of pure 
and innocent babies to be destroyed in the recent ter- 
rible earthquake in Japan? Why is it that Christians 
have been sending their millions to save millions of 
innocent babies that his God is leaving to starve in 
Kurope and Asia by famine? Does fire ever stop to 
inquire whether a man is entering a burning building 
to save a life or to plunder? Will it not burn one as 
well as the other? These questions can only be an- 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


swered by the God of the Bible, who shows that 
through all of these seemingly cruel dealings of the 
God of both, some beneficent purpose is being worked 
out. Even the contemplation of the awful destruction 
of life; one devouring the other without mercy ; caused 
Mr. Huxley to shudder; and the cruel deeds of the 
savages, who are the closest to Nature, argues against 
Deism. Surely the Deist can offer no solution. 


Morse FuuLMINATIONS OF PAINE 


Listen to some more statements about one who is 
considered to be one of the greatest of earth, who 
under God led a nation of slaves to become a strong 
model government for all nations of the earth. ‘‘The 
character of Moses as stated in the Bible is the most 
horrid that can be imagined.’’ After calling Moses a 
‘‘wretch’’ he pays his respects to the book of Joshua 
by calling it ‘‘horrid.’’ ‘‘It is a military history of 
rapine and murder, as savage and brutal as those re- 
corded of his predecessor, in villainy and hypocrisy, 
Moses.’’ He ealls the patriot-prophet Jeremiah ‘‘a liar 
and impostor,’’ when it is Mr. Paine who is mistaken 
and not Jeremiah. It is the same in his treatment of 
Elisha, who was not a prophet of Judah, as Mr. 
Paine says, but of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. 
Because of the ignorance of Mr. Paine, he speaks of 
Elisha as having ‘‘all the venom and vulgarity of a 
party prophet,’’ which is just the opposite of the facts, 
for it was Elisha’s own king that he denounced (II 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Ki. 3:11-14). Of the New Testament, Mr. Paine says 
‘It is the fable of Jesus Christ, as told in the New 
Testament and the wild and visionary doctrine raised 
thereon, against which I contend. The story, taking 
it as it is told is blasphemously obscene.”’ 


Mr. PAInre’s CHOICE OF DEVILS 


Near the close of his book Mr. Paine gives the fol- 
lowing ominous words: 

‘It is better, far better, that we admitted, if it 
were possible, a thousand devils to roam at large, 
and preach publicly the doctrine of devils, if there 
were any such, than that we permitted one such im- 
postor and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel and the 
Bible Prophets to come with the pretended word of 
God in his mouth and have credit among us.’”’ It is 
not difficult to understand why Mr. Paine (sad is the 
tragedy of it all) chooses ‘‘the devils’’ rather than 
Moses and the prophets. One cannot help thinking, 
as he reads his work, that here is a man with a strong 
mind, in fact a genius; who is following the leading 
of demons rather than that of the Gentle Nazarene. 
His unfairness, his distortion of facts, his venomous 
words, some of which we have quoted, show such a 
perverted mind and heart, that it is no wonder that 
he ‘‘lived a wretched existence’’ until his death. A 
fair historian has said, ‘‘that he was in his old 
age penurious, uncleanly, and drunken, may be ac- 


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THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


cepted as true. He did a great service for the United 
States in her hour of peril; but he lived to forfeit 
the respect of the Christian world.’’ 


Mr. PAINE AND THE MODERNISTS 


We are not concerned so much, however, about Mr. 
Paine or his book; for many years ago we waded 
through all this filth until the fallacy of these sup- 
posed contradictions were laid bare. What discrep- 
ancies there are in the Bible, and they are more seem- 
ing than real, and it is a miracle that there are not 
more, are only warts or scars, which really enhance 
the beauty and strength of a manly face. It is not 
best to let others do too much of our thinking for us. 
He who said ‘‘Search the Scriptures’’ wants us to 
have a vigorous, robust faith that can look the devil 
in the face and tell him as Jesus did that ‘‘he is a 
liar’’ (John 8:44) and also ‘‘Get thee hence, Satan’’ 
(Matt. 3:10). But we find here in his ‘‘Age of 
Reason’’ the stock in trade of the teaching of the 
Modernists. It is the modernizing of all of these so- 
called discrepancies that is the alarming thing. The 
discrediting of the birth of Jesus by a Virgin. The 
denying of miracles, the making of much over the 
varied testimony concerning Christ’s resurrection and 
the making a great ado over these additions that are 
found in the books of the Old Testament, etc., all are 
as old as Thomas Paine and even much older. 


[165] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Mr. PAINE AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 


Thomas Paine was in France during the time of the 
French Revolution. Probably his teaching abetted the 
revolutionists: although being thrown into prison by 
Robespierre, he was cured, like Emma Goldman and 
William Haywood, when he like them, got too big a 
dose of their own- Remedies. We have seen in the 
first chapters of this book that the Beast government 
is this French Revolution, the Rule of the Proletariat, 
revived. 

So how natural it is to have this ‘‘Age of Reason’”’ 
revived; for while Mr. Paine professed to be a Deist, 
yet his fulminations against the Bible and Chris- 
tianity would satisfy even an atheistic Bolshevik. 
The religion of the False prophet came ‘‘up out of 
the earth.’’ It is ‘‘Natural religion.’’ So we have 
come with all of our reasonings back to the place from 
whence we started. 


MopDERNISM AND SATAN 


We have already noticed the ominous words of Mr. 
Paine about his ‘‘choosing the devils instead of Moses 
and the prophets.’’ There is such a Satanic spirit in 
all of these modern attacks upon the Bible. It is so 
insidious in order to deceive if possible the very elect. 
Take the question of ‘‘The Virgin Birth.’’ The apos- 
tles did not preach it but they certainly assumed it. 
It was not the coming of Jesus into the flesh that 
saves, but his coming forth from the grave when He 


[166] 


THE BIBLE V8. MODERNISM 


became ‘‘the first born of the dead’’ that the apostles 
preached. The Holy Spirit has not recorded even 
the time of the year of His birth by Mary, but Jesus’ 
birth from the grave is remembered every first day 
of the week. His coming in the flesh was for His 
humiliation and death; but His resurrection and as- 
cension into glory was to perfect the great plan of 
Redemption (Rom. 1:3, 4). So, of course, this re- 
surrection of the Christ is what the apostles preached 
and emphasized. While not emphasized, it was and 
is a glorious truth that Jesus was born just as 
Matthew and Luke describe. It makes the birth 
congruous with the divine life, and Jesus puts it by 
the word ‘‘Only’’ into the heart of the golden text 
of the Bible (John 3:16). The story is told with such 
delicacy and purity, which bespeaks its author to 
be the Holy Spirit. And the humble, yet divine scene 
in the stable, with the dimpled, cooing babe in the 
manager, and the shepherds gathered by the message 
and song of the angels have gripped this old world 
as no other event, and Christmas is the greatest and 
oladdest day in the year. The whole civilized world 
gathers with the shepherds to look upon the little 
babe as ‘‘Immanuel-God with us’’; and they sing 
anew each year the song of the angels and with an 
ever increasing volume ‘‘Glory to God in the highest 
and on earth peace, good will toward men.’’ And 
the lecherous vulgarity of Mr. Paine or the irrever- 
ent insinuations of Mr. H. E. Fosdick and the Mod- 


[167] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


ernists in general about ‘‘Grecian Mythology,’’ etc., 
cannot change it. The devil, as usual, will find out 
that he has made his attack in the wrong place. 


RELIABILITY OF THE GOSPELS THREATENED 


But there is something far deeper than the im- 
portance of this truth. Are the records that so teach 
it reliable and can we believe that the life they de- 
seribe is genuine, is the all important thing. If these 
records cannot tell correctly how Jesus came into 
the world, how can they tell us anything that is 
worthy of belief, about what He did or said after 
He had come? If this account of His birth as given 
by Matthew and Luke is only a myth, then why not 
count it all to be a myth; for if God the Father 
cannot give a better account than a myth about the 
birth of His Own Son, then He has not spoken at all. 
If Jesus would permit such a silly story to be told 
about Him, if it is not true, He is not the Christ; 
and if the Holy Spirit has made such a mess of 
things at the start, how can His inspiration, on any 
kind of a theory, be of any value? 


Morau OBTUSENESS OF MODERNISTS 


Again, when the Modernists say that these ac- 
eounts of the ‘‘ Virgin birth’’ are myths, and those 
accounts of Christ’s miracles and his bodily resur- 
rection are hallucinations, they say what Mr. Paine 
says though in not so brutal a way. If the history 


[163] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


of Christ’s life, as told in the Gospels, is false as to 
the beginning, and his active life in His miracles, 
and also at the end—his resurrection, then the whole 
structure and contents of these Gospels are built 
upon base fabrications and are written either by 
simpletons or impostors or both. To say that we can 
hold the truths contained therein, after we have re- 
jected the records as being credible, is like a man 
trying to hold on to the eaves of a house after he 
has kicked away the scaffold that had supported 
him. The moral obtuseness of the Modernist is 
shown in his persistent claim that he is still a be- 
liever, and holds yet to the divinity of Jesus, when 
his Jesus has not intelligence enough to produce a 
reliable account of his own birth and life and has 
permitted men to depict him as a mountebank of the 
worst type. He may think that he still believes, but 
it is only the after-glow of an earlier faith that can- 
not linger long. Mr. Paine is even more consistent. 


SATAN’S Insip1ous ATTACKS 


This same moral dullness is shown among those 
critics who challenge the authorship of the apostle 
John of the fourth Gospel. For anyone to affirm that 
some other John or anyone else in the second century, 
who never saw or heard Jesus, could manufacture that 
fourth Gospel, shows that he is entirely devoid of 
moral discernment. We are not saying spiritual for 


[169] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


that goes without saying, but moral discernment. 
For, any man to have the moral turpitude to assume 
to give those wonderful discourses and prayer of 
Jesus, and His life, and all the incidents of that won- 
derful life; and speak of himself as the ‘‘one whom 
Jesus loved’’ and of ‘‘reclining in Jesus’ bosom’’ at 
the last supper, when he was not there at all, is a 
fraud of the worst kind. If anyone says that the 
writer could have taken oral traditions and have 
woven in the stories that had been repeated to him 
and thus have produced this Gospel, that would not 
free him from being a deceiver, for the author claims 
by the very manner and spirit of the writings to 
have been an eye witness. 

Now for anyone to assert that this glorious Gospel 
was written by frauds and deceivers, shows a moral 
obliquity that is astonishing. No spiritual plummet 
ever sounded deeper spiritual depths than this Gos- 
pel contains. John himself, uninspired by the Holy 
Spirit, could not have written it. It is most certainly 
the work of Christ’s Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. 


DANIEL’S PROPHECY 


The same spirit is shown in their treatment of the 
book of Daniel, which the Modernists claim was 
written about 150 B. C., which is about four hundred 
years after the characters described therein, lived. 
They claim that the book is fictitious, written by a 


[170] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


Jew to encourage his people during the distressful 
times of Antiochus Epiphanes. There is not a hint 
in the book that it was written for that purpose, but 
the book abounds in internal evidence that it was 
written at the time of the events that are described 
therein. Take for instance Chapter nine. ‘‘In the 
first year of his (Darius) reign, I, Daniel, understood 
by the books the number of the years, whereof the 
word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, for 
the accomplishing of the desolation of Jerusalem, 
even seventy years. And I set my face unto the 
Lord God to seek by prayer,’’ ete., (vs. 2, 3). Here 
is the name of the author, Daniel. He uses the first 
person and gives the time of this prayer and the 
prophecies that grew out of it to chapter twelve and 
there we find the same ‘‘I, Daniel’’ (12:5). The time 
is ‘‘the first year of Darius’’ and at the close of the 
seventy years that were given by Jeremiah for ‘‘the 
desolation of Jerusalem.’’ How could anything be 
more definite? As Daniel came to Babylon at the 
beginning of this ‘‘desolation of Jerusalem,’’ he was 
there during those seventy years. The unity of the 
book is very pronounced for it is the same Daniel all 
the way through. The date of his coming to Babylon 
(1:1) and the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and his 
own visions weave into the history of that period and 
fix the date to such a certainty that the idea of a 
Jew making this up as a fiction, four hundred years 


[171] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


afterwards, is extremely ridiculous. Then Ezekiel, a 
contemporary, mentions Daniel as a righteous man, 
which proves that Daniel lived and these testimonies 
of his righteousness in the book were known to Eze- 
kiel. But one thing above all others ought to settle 
this and that is the quotation that Jesus makes from 
Daniel; ‘‘When therefore ye see the abomination of 
desolation (Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) which was 
spoken of through Daniel the prophet’’ (Matt. 24: 
15). Jesus here calls Daniel a prophet and quotes 
from the book that bears his name, and also shows 
that He believes that events can be foretold, and that 
these prophecies of Daniel were yet to be fulfilled 
and therefore were not fulfilled at the time of An- 
tiochus Epiphanes. Jesus thus proves that these four 
items, each one of which the Modernists deny, is 
true; thus showing their false position. But this is 
nothing to the Modernists, who seem to take delight 
in attacking every book that Jesus indorses. 


REASON FoR THESE ATTACKS 


Why do the Modernists reject all of this plain evi- 
dence and bring forward their weak theories that 
maintain that these books were written by deceivers 
at a later time? Is it because that these prophetic 
books are more faulty than others and they desire to 
correct them or is their authorship and the time of 
their writing so uncertain, etc., that it produces con- 


[172] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


troversies over them? How can this be the reason, 
when by applying every canon of historical criticism, 
these books were written at the time stated therein. 
The only apparent reason is that they do not believe 
that any future event can be foretold, therefore, all 
of these plain prophecies are not something that is 
going to come to pass, but what has already oc- 
curred and is therefore only history. This is the 
only reason for putting the date of Daniel at about 
150 B. C. For the prophecy in Dan. 8:1-14 is so plain 
that the Modernist, whose God does not know enough 
to foretell the future, says it must have already oc- 
eurred. So the silly conjecture is made about the 
Jew being the author. There are two things that 
Satan is bound to overthrow in order that he may 
discredit the Bible as being a Revelation from God. 
These two are in effect one viz., the working of mir- 
acles and the fulfillment of prophecy. Against these 
two he has hurled every power and agent he can 
control. He used Thomas Paine and Robert Inger- 
soll and is now using the Modernists of to-day; for 
while they may differ in methods, the object of at- 
tack is the same. Away with these miracles and this 
fulfillment of prophecy is the cry. It matters not 
what simpletons it makes of Jesus and his apostles 
nor what liars it makes of them all, even if it does 
make the books look as if they were written by what 
Mr. Paine calls ‘‘madmen.’’ Materialistic evolution 


[173] 


THE BIBLE VS. MODERNISM 


—a religion coming up out of the earth, must be 
maintained, at all hazards. This is what Paul de- 
seribes in II Thess. 2:3; II Tim. 3:1-7; as ‘‘the falling 
away’’ and calls ‘‘the lawless One”’ in II Thess. 2:8, 
and John deseribes as the False Prophet, the two- 
horned beast that ‘‘came up out of the earth’’ (Rev. 
13 :11-15). 


[174] 


Partey) 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR 
FULFILLMENT 


TASES fy 
tone ie 
vig i ; 





CHAPTER XVIII 


Prophecies Fulfilled 


WELL defined prophecy, fulfilled in all its par- 

ticulars, is as clear a proof of God’s presence 
and sanction as a miracle worked out before our 
eyes. No mortal man can even tell what will happen 
within one year, say nothing about describing min- 
utely events that will happen one thousand years 
hence. In fact, the Modernists do not believe that 
even God has ever done so; therefore the clear ful- 
fillment of prophecies must be thrown out with the 
miracles as unworthy of belief. If the prophecy is 
clearly fulfilled they claim it must have been written 
after and not before the events occurred. This is the 
reason for their setting aside the strongest canons 
of historical criticism in order to change the dates 
and authorship of the books of the Bible. 

When even our weather bureau fails so often with 
all of its data to draw from, what shall we think of 
God’s prophecies of which the Bible abounds, that 
have never failed once; especially when most of these 
prophecies are about things that were the most un- 
likely to occur. 


[177] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


PrRoPpHECY AGAINST BABYLON 


Here is a city whose history extends back into the 
beginnings of civilization. For two thousand years 
it had been growing until it was the greatest and 
most impregnable city in the world. Its walls were 
unsealable and so thick that they could not be broken 
through. The land within them could produce much 
food, which was enlarged by their ‘“‘hanging gar- 
dens,’’ and the storing of ample food-stuff and the 
water of the Euphrates insured against a siege. Its 
army was the most powerful in the world and could 
defend the city without walls. Yet at the height 
of its glory and power, God, through Isaiah and 
Jeremiah, predicted its overthrow and complete de- 
struction, so as to never be inhabited again. Isaiah 
prophesied before and Jeremiah at the beginning of 
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, who made Babylonia 
one of the mightiest nations of the earth (Is. 1:1; 
Jer. 1:1-8; 25-1; 32:1). Read carefully Is. 13 :19-22; 
Jer. 50:1-51; 64, and note how specific these proph- 
ecles are: 


(1) This first overthrow was to be done suddenly (Jer. 
51:8). 

(2) The Princes, wisemen, mighty men of Babylon are 
dismayed, thrown into a panic. (Is. 13:8; Jer. 
50 :35-37; 51:30-32). 

(3) And the city was to be taken while these were 
drunken at a feast. (Jer. 51:39, 57). 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


How graphic is the description as given by Jere- 
miah in 51:31-32. ‘‘One post shall run to meet an- 
other to show the king of Babylon that his city is 
taken on every quarter; and the passages are seized 
and the reeds they have burned with fire and the 
men of war are affrighted.’’ Then read this descrip- 
tion of its overthrow as given in Dan. 5:1-30. ‘‘Bel- 
shazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand 
of his lords and drank wine before the thousand.”’ 
‘‘In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was 
slain.’’ This prophecy of Isaiah was made nearly 
two hundred years before it was fulfilled and that of 
Jeremiah about sixty. 


JEREMIAH’S DRAMATIC ACTIONS 


Jeremiah wrote his prophecy concerning Babylon 
and had Seraiah, the chief chamberlain, take it to 
Babylon and ‘‘read all these words and say, ‘O 
Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to 
eut it off that none shall dwell therein, neither man 
nor beast, but that it shall be desolate forever. And 
it shall be when thou hast made an end of reading 
this book, that thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast 
it into the midst of the Euphrates: and thou shalt 
say, Thus shall Babylon sink and shall not rise again 
because of the evil that I will bring upon her’ ’’ (Jer. 
51:60-64). These are the last words of Jeremiah’s 
prophecy (51:64) and they were written and a copy 


[179] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


sunk to the bottom of the Euphrates at the acme of 
the power and glory of Babylon. If the parchment 
had been put into a water proof receptacle and found 
to-day, it would be a living miracle; for these pre- 
dictions are about things that seemed almost im- 
possible of fulfillment. One standing by Seraiah as 
he read this clear prophecy would have thought it 
was the ravings of a mad-man. But lest some one 
may doubt, let us look at the remainder of this 
prophecy that admits of no doubt. 


INDISPUTABLE PROOF OF INSPIRATION 


‘‘And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, shall be as 
when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. It shall 
never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from 
generation to generation, neither shall the Arabian 
pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their 
flocks to lie down there. But wild beasts of the 
desert shall lhe there and their houses shall be full 
of doleful creatures; and wolves shall ery in their 
castles and jackals in the pleasant palaces’’ (Is. 13: 
19-22). ‘‘I will also make it a possession for the por- 
cupine and pools of water’’ (14:23). Listen to Jere- 
miah, ‘‘And Chaldea shall be a prey; all that prey 
upon her shall be satisfied’’ (Jer. 50:10). ‘‘She shall 
not be inhabited, but she shall be wholly desolate: 
every one that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished 
and hiss at her plagues’’ (50:13). ‘‘Cast her up as 


[180] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


heaps and destroy her utterly; let nothing of her be 
left’’ (50:26). ‘‘And Babylon shall become heaps a 
dwelling place for jackals an astonishment and a 
hissing, without inhabitant’’ (51:37). 

This prophecy with its minute particulars has been 
completely fulfilled. 

(1) Its overthrow was like Sodom in that it be- 
came at last so destroyed that its site was unknown 
for centuries. 

(2) It has been an astonishment through the cen- 
turies. Volney the French explorer and author cried 
out as he saw her utter desolation, ‘‘ Alas: Alas’’: 
T. B. Macauley, Horace Walpole, Henry Kirke 
White, et al., have expressed similar astonishment, 
and there is no doubt about the hissing of her en- 
emies. 

(3) She was to be ‘‘without inhabitant from gen- 
eration to generation.’’ For at least ten centuries 
she has been without inhabitant. All that you can 
find of her massive walls and palaces are under the 
surface of the earth. Hillel, a town by a different 
name and not on the same site, cannot be said to be 
Babylon restored. 

(4) She is certainly ‘‘cast up into heaps’’ for the 
only way to know where she once existed as the 
mightiest city of the world is by the mounds spread 
out over the square miles of her former site. 


[181] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


(5) She has become the dwelling place of wolves, 
jackals and wild beasts. Or as the Jewish transla- 
tion is, ‘‘ But wild cats shall lie there and their houses 
shall be full of ferrets.’’ Her houses are filled with 
‘*doleful creatures.’’ 

(6) Beeause of this ‘‘the shepherds do not make 
their flocks to lie down there.’’ 

(7) The Arabian, who goes everywhere else in 
that region, because of these uncanny conditions and 
the pools of water ‘‘does not pitch tent there.”’ 

(8) Babylon was to be a prey of the nations until 
they were satisfied (Jer. 50:10). She became a prey 
to the Medes and Persians and to the Greeks, for 
while preying upon her, Alexander died within her 
walls. She was a prey to the Romans until she be- 
came extinct. And the nations are still carrying 
away her ruins. 

(9) She was to become ‘‘wholly desolate’’ and 
‘shall never be inhabited.’’ 

Now, no one can say that these things were re- 
eorded after they were fulfilled, for the prophecy 
extends to our day and is fulfilled before our eyes. 
Neither can anyone say that these prophecies are 
like the ancient oracles that were given so obscurely 
that they might fit any occurrence. These nine speci- 
fications, twelve in all, are not only definite, but are 
about events that were the most unlikely to occur. 
But let us next notice briefly the prophecies of 
Nahum and Zephaniah concerning: 


[182] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


NINEVEH 


‘* Jehovah will make Nineveh a desolation and 
dry lke the wilderness. And herds shall lie down 
in the midst of her; both the pelican and the porcu- 
pine shall lodge in the capitals thereof; their voices 
shall sing in her windows; desolation shall be in the 
thresholds; for he hath laid bare the cedar work. 
This is the joyous city that dwelt carelessly, that 
said in her heart, I am, and there is none besides me: 
how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts 
to he down in; everyone that passeth by her shall hiss 
and wag his hand’’ (Zeph. 2:13-15). 

‘“What do ye (Nineveh) devise against Jehovah? 
He will make a full end of thee; affliction shall not 
rise up the second time’’ (Nahum 1:9). ‘‘And it 
shall come to pass, that all that look upon thee shall 
flee from thee and say Nineveh is laid waste; who 
will bemoan her?’’ (8:7). ‘‘Thou (defenders) also 
shalt be drunken’’ (3:11). ‘‘There shall the fire de- 
vour thee; the sword shall cut thee off’’ (3:15). 
‘“Thy shepherds slumber, O King of Assyria; thy 
nobles are at rest; thy people are scattered upon the 
mountains, and there is none to gather them. There 
is no assuaging of thy hurt; thy wound is grievous”’ 
(Nahum 3:18-19). 

All of these prophecies are as elegant in diction 
as mighty in proof. Nahum prophesied about forty 
years; while Zephaniah only a few years before the 


[183] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


entire destruction of Nineveh which occurred about 
606 B. C. The city was completely destroyed as 
stated in these prophecies. Smith’s Bible Dictionary 
says, ‘‘But Nineveh having fallen with the empire 
never rose again. It was abandoned at once and 
suffered to perish utterly.’’ ‘‘Great accumulations 
of charcoal, ete., show that it was destroyed by fire,’’ 
and history says while the defenders were drunk. 
But the indisputable proof of this prophecy is its 
condition to-day and for the last two thousand and. 
five hundred years. 

(1) Nineveh was to come to a full end. There 
would be ‘‘no affliction rising up the second time’’; 
It was not to become a prey among the nations as 
Babylon was. 

(2) It was to be ‘‘a desolation and dry like the 
desert.’’ This is fulfilled to the very letter. 

(3) ‘‘And herds shall lie down in the midst of 
her.’’ This is different from Babylon where it is 
said ‘‘Neither shall shepherds make their flocks to 
lie down there.’’ This is also fulfilled. 

(4) ‘*The cedar work is laid bare’’ by the exeava- 
tions of to-day (Zeph. 2:14). 

(5) It is also ‘‘ a lodging place for the pelican and 
the porcupine (or bittern).’’ No inhabitants to dis- 
turb them. It is ‘‘a place for beasts to lie down in.’’ 

(6) Like Babylon ‘‘Everyone who passeth by shall 
hiss and wag the hand,’’ because of its former glory. 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


New YORK AND CHICAGO AS EXAMPLES 


That we may see the strong proof of the inspiration 
of these prophecies, let us imagine another Jeremiah 
and Isaiah would stand before New York and another 
Nahum and Zephaniah would stand before Chicago 
and pronounce similar prophecies over these two 
cities. To the statement that each one might be over- 
thrown, the reply of the hearers might be ‘‘ While 
that is possible it is very unlikely to happen and you 
are risking much on your reputations as prophets in 
making so bold a statement. But see here, men, when 
you say that New York and Chicago are to sink to 
rise no more, and shall never be inhabited again, you 
are talking like men bereft of reason. For if they are 
overthrown they will certainly rise again. The same 
causes that produced these cities on these favorable 
sites will produce others to follow. Then when you 
say that the buffaloes and rabbits and sea gulls etce., 
and the prairie dogs and perhaps some roving Indians 
will again occupy the places of these massive build- 
ings and sky-scrapers— Well, excuse us, men, we must 
eall in the Alienists.’’ ‘‘Hold! a minute;’’ ery the 
prophets. ‘‘Not only will this desolation come to 
these cities just as we have predicted, but it will con- 
tinue for one thousand years, yea, for twenty-five 
hundred years without change.’’ ‘‘Hnough, order up 
the ambulance for these men.’’ 


[185] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


A MIRACLE IS NO STRONGER PROOF 


But suppose the world moves on for another two 
thousand years and some wise men stand upon the 
sites of these two great cities, and with these prophe- 
cies in hand, they find that everything even to the 
smallest details has come to pass just as these prophets 
predicted. Can we not see that we have before us the 
evidence of the supernatural as strong as if a dead 
person was raised before our eyes? Is it not even 
more convincing than if God should speak direct from 
heaven; for here it is written for our meditation and — 
testings. But here, we have not only the proof of 
God speaking, but we can see His ‘‘stately steppings”’ 
through the centuries and millenniums in bringing to 
pass His Righteous judgments upon the Nations. But 
we must remember that it is not because these events 
occurred, but that they were foretold so minutely be- 
forehand. Only God knew and thus made them 
known. The more the specifications and their fulfill- 
ment, the stronger the proof that God spoke them. To 
say it was a lucky guess is to talk nonsense. 


JEWS AND THE NATIONS 


This brings us to another great prophecy which, 
though brief is all comprehensive. ‘‘Fear not thou, 
O Jacob-my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with 
thee; for I will make a full end of all nations whither 
I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no 
wise leave thee unpunished’’ (Jer. 46:28 ef. 80:11). 

Three things of a stupendous program must be ac- 
complished if this prophecy is to be fulfilled. Furst, 
the bringing to a ‘‘full end of all the nations”’ 
- whither the- Israelites were then driven; second, 
the perpetuation of the Israelites as a nation through 
the millenniums by God’s providence; third, the 
correcting of the Jews ‘‘in measure,’’ by punish- 
ment. But stupendous as this program is; involv- 
ing the great nations of the ancient world and re- 
quiring thousands of years for its fulfillment, yet it 
has been executed to perfection. Standing on our 
vantage ground, we can see that this prophecy, 
which was about events the most unlikely to happen, 
yet is carried out so minutely that no skeptic can 
gainsay it. But let us go back to the ‘‘weeping 
prophet,’’ pouring out his grief until his ‘‘eyes failed 
with tears’’ and see how improbable it was of ful- 
fillment in his day. The Northern kingdom of Israel 
had been overthrown and depopulated; Nebuchad- 
nezzar was destroying the cities of Judah, and was 
soon to tear down the walls of Jerusalem and was 
deporting the Jews by the thousands. 

Where was there any hope of the continuance of 
the Jewish nation? Everything was saying, ‘‘The 
Jews are coming to an end.’’ On the other hand here 
was Babylon so powerful that the world was under 
its scepter. Everything was saying, ‘‘She is the 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


eternal city, and Babylonia and Assyria will endure 
forever.’’ But at this time when there was no hope 
outside of God, He spoke through Jeremiah this most 
improbable prediction, ‘‘Fear not; I am with thee. 
I will make a full end of all these nations but not 
of thee.’? Who but God could thus speak and who 
but God could so thoroughly execute them. We 
have seen what has happened to Babylonia and 
Assyria, the devourers of Israel, where the Jews 
were driven; and also the Persian, Grecian and 
Roman Empires with Egypt, ete., have also come to 
an end. But the Jews, the ubiquitous Jews are just 
as distinct a nation to-day as ever. The Jew re- 
alizes that there flows in his veins the blood of 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They are a distinct peo- 
ple without a country, a nation, who will soon have 
a home. 


PUNISHMENT OF THE JEWS 


But God said, ‘‘I will correct thee in measure and 
will in no wise leave thee unpunished.’’ No one 
ean read the terrible retribution that has befallen 
the Jewish nation and from which it has not yet 
wholly escaped, without seeing that this prophecy 
and scores of a similar import have been thoroughly 
fulfilled. For over eighteen hundred years there 
has not a generation passed without witnessing these 
distressing persecutions. The Jews are scattered 
among all nations and each one has seen to it that 


[188] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


this prophecy is fulfilled. Theirs is a history of 
affliction and persecution and their song is ever a 
mournful dirge. But their terrible punishments are 
predicted the most clearly by their Law-giver and 
Prophet Moses in Deut. 28 :49-68, which we will ex- 
amine in the next chapter. 


[189] 


CHAPTER XIX 


Destruction of Jerusalem 


Deut. 28:49-68; Luke 21: 20-24 


“The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, 
from the end of the earth, as the eagle flieth; a nation 
whose tongue thou shalt not understand; a nation of fierce 
countenance, that shall not regard the person of the old, 
nor show favor to the young” (Deut. 28: 49-50). 


RomMAN NATION 


The Roman Nation is clearly described in the 
above verses. 

1. Rome covered the then extreme West. 

It was the Western ‘‘end of the earth.’’ 

2. ‘‘As the eagle flieth’’ is translated in the Jewish 
Bible by ‘‘As the Vulture swoopeth down.’’ 
The eagles were on the standards of the Roman 
legions to denote swiftness of movement. By 
the rapidity of his marches Julius Caesar con- 
quered the Gauls and the slow Germans. The 
eagles stand for the Romans. 

3. The Latin tongue of the Romans was ‘‘a tongue 
thou shalt not understand.’’ It was not used by 
the Jews. 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


4. 


‘*A nation of fierce countenance’’ fits exactly 
the Roman army more than any other in history. 
‘*Pyrrhus, as he viewed the dead Roman soldiers, 
and saw their faces so fierce even in death, said, 
‘Give me an army of such men as these and I will 
conquer the world.’ ’’ This was ever the spirit 
of Rome. Daniel’s description is the same. ‘‘Be- 
hold a fourth Beast; it had great iron teeth; it 
devoured and brake in pieces and stamped the 
residue with his feet’’ (7:7). 

‘‘He shall not regard the person of the old nor 
show favor to the young’”’ (vs. 50). 

Rome was the most cruel and merciless of all 
the great nations that conquered the Jews. 
Gedaliah, the governor that Nebuchadnezzar set 
over Jerusalem, was humane. While Antiochus 
Epiphanes was a cruel tyrant, he did not fairly 
represent Greece, who ruled with a light hand. 
But Rome ‘‘had no regard for old or young.”’ 
Now each one of these five particulars de- 
seribes the Roman nation and their army ex- 
actly, but not one deseribes the Babylonians. 
They did not ‘‘come from far’’; no connection 
with the eagles, their tongue was understood by 
the Jews and they were not noted for extreme 
eruelty in war. So these verses describe the 
destruction of Palestine and Jerusalem by Ves- 
pasian and Titus Caesar which occurred after 
the Bible was written. 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


6. After describing so accurately the nation, Moses 


describes how the Jews were to be a prey to the 
nations for a long time before the final destrue- 
tion came (Deut. 28:51-538). Rome and other 
conquerors did oppress the Jews by taking of 
‘‘the fruit of their cattle and ground.”’ 


. Verses 52 and 53 are fulfilled by Rome besieging 


Palestine in the smaller cities first, as deseribed 
by Josephus, who was in one of these, Jotapata, 
and describes the terrible suffering to the very 
letter as is described by Moses in these verses. 
‘‘The man that is tender among you and very 
delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his 
brother,’’ ete. (vs. 54). 

This indicates the fratricidal war that continued 
among the Jews throughout the whole siege of 
Jerusalem and even before. The most horrible 
thing about this terrible siege was the inter- 
necine war among the Jews. The streets of 
Jerusalem were red with Jewish blood shed by 
the Jews in fighting each other. Their perverse- 
ness, that Jesus saw and described in Matt. 23: 
1-36, and Paul also declared in Acts 28:26, 27 
and that stirred Stephen so in his discourse 
(Acts 7:51-53) was shown to the very end. The 
Romans were shocked to see this bloody strife 
among the Jews themselves and for this cause 
showed them no merey. Titus tried in vain to 
have them surrender and live, but their fatal 


[192] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


obstinacy caused them to rather destroy them- 
selves, which they did by thousands at a time. 
‘‘His blood be on us and on our children’’ were 
the terrible words that these Jews had uttered, 
when Pilate hesitated to take upon himself the 
responsibility of the death of the Son of God; 
and their portent is now being realized. Jesus 
had said to the nation, ‘‘ Behold your house is left 
unto. you desolate’’ (Matt. 28:38; 27:25); and 
also to the weeping women who followed Hin, 
‘*Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and 
for your children’’ (Luke 23:28). <A strange 
fatality had seized them and they would not 
surrender, but chose destruction by their own 
perverseness rather than to live under the 
Roman power. 

. This horrible scene described in verses 56, 57 in 
such fullness of detail was literally fulfilled. 
Josephus relates the story with reluctance and 
says, ‘‘I have innumerable witnesses to it in my 
own age.”’ 

‘fA certain woman named Mary, whose father 
was Eleazar, was eminent for her family and 
her wealth, had fled to Jerusalem with the rest 
of the multitude and was with them besieged 
therein at this time.’’ After telling the causes 
that led up to ‘‘this most unnatural thing’’ he 
continues, ‘‘snatching up her son who was at 
her breast, she said, ‘O thou miserable infant! 


[193] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


10. 


vith: 


for whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this 
famine and this sedition?’ As soon as she said 
this, she slew her son and then roasted him and 
ate the one-half of him and kept the other half: 
by her concealed,’’ ete. When found, the men 
were horrified. ‘‘Upon which the whole city 
was full of this horrid action immediately.”’ 
We have ventured to give this horrible scene 
because such details showing the perfect agree- 
ment between the prophecy of Moses given fif- 
teen centuries before and the historian who was 
present, is the surest evidence possible of their 
inspiration. 

‘‘And ye shall be left few in number.’’ This is 
true of them as a nation. Only a part returned 
after the first captivity. 

‘‘And ye shall be plucked from off the land 
whither thou goest in to possess it.’’ ‘‘And 
Jehovah will scatter thee among all the peoples, 
from the one end of the earth even unto the 
other end of the earth’’ (vs. 638, 64). 

This prediction has been so completely fulfilled 
that it is known to all. Where is there a nation 
that does not have the Jews among them? For 
over one thousand years this nation had been 
earefully segregated as the most exclusive na- 
tion on the earth. But since their scattering at 
the Babylonian eaptivity and especially after 
the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. they 


[194] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


12. 


13. 


have been the most scattered people of the 
earth. They are called the ‘‘ubiquitous Jews.’’ 
‘‘And among these nations thou shalt find no 
ease and no rest for the sole of thy foot. But 
Jehovah will give thee there a trembling heart, 
and failing of eyes and pining of soul. And 
thy life shalt hang in doubt before thee; and 
thou shalt fear night and day and shalt have 
no assurance of thy life. In the morning thou 
shalt say ‘‘Would it were even: and at even 
thou shalt say, ‘Would it were morning: for the 
fear of thy heart,’ etc.’’ (vs. 65-67). 

This eareful prediction has been fulfilled to the 
very letter. It can describe no other people. No 
history of the Jews for the last eighteen and 
one half centuries can describe more accurately 
the condition of the Jews than this prophecy 
told in such a graphie style. The fearful suf- 
fering of these fated people as recited in his- 
tory during this long period would move a heart 
of stone in sympathy. There perished in this 
fearful siege, according to Josephus, one mil- 
lion one hundred thousand Jews. 

‘‘And Jehovah will bring thee into Egypt again 
with ships’’; ‘‘and there ye shall sell yourselves 
unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen 
and no man shall buy (or ransom) you’’ (vs. 
68). Josephus says that ninety-seven thousand 
of the Jews were made captives and ‘‘immense 


[195] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


14, 


numbers were sold and buyers few.’’ ‘‘The 
tallest and most beautiful were reserved for the 
triumph, and the rest that were over seventeen 
years old, he put them into bonds and sent them 
to the Egyptian mines.’’ This specification like 
the others is literally fulfilled. 

‘fAnd thou shalt become an astonishment, a 
proverb and a by-word among all the peoples 
whither Jehovah hath lead you away’’ (vs. 87). 
That this has been fulfilled to the letter is known 
to all the people wherever the Jews have gone. 
They were an astonishment to Paul and to every 
generation of believers since. They not only 
put their own Messiah to death, but the blindness 
and ‘‘hardening in part’’ has continued through 
these nineteen centuries to the astonishment of 
all. The Gentile nations have not only accepted 
their Christ, but their Jewish Scriptures also 
and have sent them throughout the world. 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Moses their great 
leader and law-giver are loved and honored by 
the civilized world; and by Christians even more 
than by the Jews, for they accept their testimony 
concerning the Christ (John 5:39, 46; 8:56; 
Luke 24:27, 44-47). The blindness of the Jews 
to the plain teaching of their own Scriptures 
and to Jesus, who has so perfectly fulfilled them 
is one of the most astonishing facts of this age. 
Strong in mental power, quick in perception, 


[196] 


15. 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


filling high places in state and places of learn- 
ing yet blinder than the Hottentots of Africa to 
the clearest truths found in their own sacred 
books. 

They are also ‘‘a Proverb’’ as is shown by 
Shakespeare in his immortal Shylock and his 
character and sayings. Their very name has 
become proverbial. ‘‘Am I a Jew?’’ has ever 
been a question of much significance. And they 
have become a byword in every nation of the 
world. ‘‘Jewing down,’’ ‘‘a Jew fire,’’ ete., are 
very common these days. The ‘‘bywords”’ stick 
although the greatest emporiums of trade are 
controlled by Jews and are conducted strictly 
upon the marked and fixed prices. Hard to out- 
grow a ‘‘byword.”’ 

‘‘And all these curses shall be upon thee for a 
sign, and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for- 
ever (age-long Deut. 28:46). 

This is different from being a byword, etc., for 
it is a ‘‘sign and a wonder,’’ The Jews, their 
history and destiny are and have been a great 
sign hung up, so that each generation may see 
that God’s promises and prophecies are sure. 
These terrible predictions have been and are 
still being carried out to the letter; yea, even 
God’s purposes for the Jew’s Restoration’’ are 
becoming patent to all. What a mighty people, 
and how wonderfully God could have used them 


[197] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


for His beneficent purposes for the human race, 
if the first part of this remarkable chapter 
(Deut. 28 :1-14) had been their history. ‘‘But ye 
would not’’ (Matt. 23:37; Deut. 28:15). 


Now we see here the perfect fulfillment of fifteen 
different specifications of this wonderful prophecy 
found in this one chapter. To say that all these are 
happy guesses shows an ignorance that is sublime 
for its immensity. It is indisputable evidence that 
this prophecy was directed of God, for no human 
person could have written this history with such ac- 
curacy, fifteen centuries, or even seven centuries be- 
fore it occurred. In an old Bible we saw once a 
computation upon the almost certainty of a predic- 
tion containing 15 distinet specifications, when each 
one is Clearly fulfilled. By the rule of Permutation 
it was shown that there would not be one chance in 
a million for the prophecy to be wrong. If it was 
right in only one-half, it would have much eredibil- 
ity. If right in ten out of fifteen it would make it 
much stronger. But to be right in every one of the 
fifteen points, shows that God, who knows and 
guides, was the only one who could have directed the 
writing. 


[198] 


CHAPTER XX 


Jesus and Jerusalem 


“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate’ (Matt. 23: 
38). “And when He drew nigh, he saw the city and wept 
over it saying, ‘For the days shall come upon thee, when 
thine enemies shall cast up a bank about thee and compass 
thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash 
thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they 
shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou 
knowest not the time of thy visitation’” (Luke 19:3, 44). 
“Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for 
yourselves, and for your children. For behold the days are 
coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and 
the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave 
suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains ‘Fall 
on us’: and to the hills ‘Cover us.’” (Luke 23 :28-30). 


“But when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies then 
know that her desolation is at hand. Then let them that 
are in Judea flee unto the mountains; and let them that are 
in the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are 
in the country enter therein. For these are days of ven- 
geance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 
Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give 
suck in those days: for there shall be great distress upon 
the land, and wrath unto this people. And they shall fall 
by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all 
the nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 
21 :20-24). 


[199] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


How clear is this prophecy of Jesus. It most cer- 
tainly reveals Him as a real prophet and that the 
future was not only known to Him, but that He could 
open its doors to His disciples. In the above verses 
He tells the Jews that their house is left to them but 
it shall be desolate. As He weeps over the doomed 
city He prophesies that her ‘‘enemies shall cast up 
a bank about thee, and compass thee around and 
keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to 
the ground and thy children with thee.’’ No one 
seeing the capture of Jerusalem (70 A. D.) could de- 
scribe it more accurately than did Jesus, forty years 
before it occurred. Josephus who was present de- 
seribes how these ‘‘banks were cast up’’ ete., and all 
the details of the siege just as Jesus had prophesied. 
Hundreds of thousands of these stricken Jews shut 
up as in a trap within the doomed city would have 
been glad to have ‘‘the mountains fall on them and 
the hills to cover them.’’ It was worse than death. 


WARNING OF JESUS 


One of the causes of the unprecedented slaughter 
of such a vast multitude which had gathered for the 
Passover feast was their rushing into the city. Jesus 
had warned them of this. ‘‘Then let them that are 
in Judea flee unto the mountains and let them that 
are in the midst of her depart out.’’? Oh, if they 
had only heeded. But they did just the opposite. 
The same stiffness of neck and hardness of heart 


[200] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


that they had ever shown was theirs unto the end. 
One can not read this prophecy without seeing how 
solicitous Jesus was. How He would liked to have 
had the ears of every Jew as He cried out ‘‘Flee to 
the mountains.’’ ‘‘Don’t enter the city.’’ ‘‘Let those 
that are therein depart out.’’ ‘‘And let not them 
that are in the country enter therein.’’ But, brother, 
sister, can we not hear Him in His warning to us to- 
day? This destruction of Jerusalem is the prototype 
to the final doom and destruction of the Gentile na- 
tions, when they head up in the ten federated king- 
doms to resist the Return of the world’s rightful 
King Jesus (Luke 19 :27; Rev. 19:19-21). This warn- 
ing of Jesus was heeded by the Christians of that 
day and it is said that all of them escaped. While 
this prediction given in Luke 21:20-24, means the 
Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 
alone; yet it continues to tell about their being ‘‘led 
captives into all the nations’’ and that ‘‘Jerusalem 
shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times 
of the Gentiles be fulfilled.’’ As Jerusalem is still 
under the control of the Gentiles, this part is yet to 
be fulfilled. 


JERUSALEM DELIVERED 


This word ‘‘until’’ means that there is coming a 
time when Jerusalem shall be no longer trodden 
down by the Gentiles. This agrees with Matt. 24: 
15-22; Mk. 13 :14-20 where Jesus depicts the destruc- 


[201] 


f 
PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


tion of Jerusalem; but also looks down through the 
centuries to even a greater crisis that shall come 
to Palestine, just preceding the ‘‘ Battle of Armaged- 
don’’ (Rev. 16:12-16). This, Jesus describes as ‘‘the 
great tribulation, such as hath not been from the be- 
ginning of the world until now, no, nor, ever shall 
be.’’ Jeremiah in speaking of Jacob’s trouble says, 
‘‘Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: 
it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall 
be saved out of it.’’ ‘‘In that day saith Jehovah of 
Hosts, I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and 
shall burst thy bonds. Strangers shall no more make 
him their bondman; but they shall serve Jehovah 
their God and David their king whom I will raise 
up unto them.’’ ‘‘And Jacob shall return and shall 
be quiet and at ease and none shall make him afraid’’ 
(30 :8-10). 

Here we see, at the time of the greatest tribulation, 
deliverance comes to the Jews. This is according to 
Daniel 12:1, ‘‘There shall be a time of trouble, such 
as never was since there was a nation even to that 
same time: and at that time thy people shall be de- 
livered, every one that shall be written in the book’’ 
(see Rev. 13:8). Now it is very evident that the 
greatest tribulation, of which Jesus, Jeremiah, and 
Daniel speak, cannot be the destruction of Jeru- 
salem in 70 A.D., for at the time of this greatest 
tribulation Jerusalem and the Jews are to be de- 
livered. But at the destruction of Jerusalem A. D. 


[202] 


5 
= —— 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


70 the Jews were destroyed and not delivered. Their 
deliverance cannot come as a nation until they re- 
turn to Palestine and Jesus returns and destroys the 
federated armies of the world and thus brings the 
‘““Times of the Gentiles’’ to an end. This agrees with 
Paul in Rom. 11:25, 26. ‘‘That a hardening in part 
hath befallen Israel, until the fullness of the Gen- 
tiles be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved.’’ 
The word ‘‘until’’ shows when this ‘‘hardening in 
part’’ shall cease; for it will continue ‘‘until’’ the 
times of the Gentiles be come in. While the Jews 
are even now returning to their own land to estab- 
lish a Jewish Commonwealth, yet there will be much 
opposition by the Mohammedans and Catholics, both 
Greek and Roman, and also the Arabs, as is shown 
in the late mobbing of Lord Balfour at Damascus. 
But it will surely come to pass. But the time of this 
ereatest tribulation occurs, when Satan gathers the 
armies of the world to resist Christ’s return and 
Babylon the harlot is destroyed, and ‘‘the cities of 
the nations fall’’ (Rev. 16:18-19) and the Beast gov- 
ernment is so threatening that ‘‘Except those days 
had been shortened no flesh would have been saved: 
but for the elect’s sake those days shall be short- 
ened”’ (Matt: 24:22). Or as Paul expresses it ‘‘for 
the father’s sake’’ (Rom. 11:28)to whom God had 
promised a ‘‘remnant.’’ The army of Titus at the 
siege of Jerusalem will be insignificant to these vast 
armies that Satan gathers from all over the world, 


[203] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


and the number of the slain cannot be compared. 
But the same warning that took the Christians out 
of the doomed ecity of Jerusalem is for us that we 
may be ready when our Lord appears in the clouds 
to take His prepared ones out of this old doomed 
world until He returns with His bride to utterly de- 
stroy the Antichrist.”’ 


THe BupDDING OF THE E1G-TREE 


‘‘Now from the fig tree learn her parable; when 
her branch is now become tender, and putteth forth 
its leaves, ye know that the summer is nigh; even 
so ye also, when ye see all these things, know ye 
that He is nigh, even at the doors. Verily, I say 
unto you, this generation (that sees all these things) 
shall not pass away, till all these things be accom- 
plished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my 
words shall not pass away’’ (Matt. 24:32-385). 

How clear and simple Jesus makes it. Look at the 
fig tree, ‘‘learn her parable.’’ She has the story that 
will make it clear. Once before Jesus let the fig tree 
teach her parable when she had only leaves and no 
fruit (Mk. 11:18, 20). She withered away by the 
blast of the Master’s word and for nearly two mil- 
lenniums the fruitless fig tree—Israel—has borne no 
fruit. But now she has another parable. She is bud- 
ding again, which shows that her winter has passed 
and her ‘‘summer is nigh.’’ We know that Israel is 
budding and thrilling with a new life which reveals 


[204] 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


not only the filling of a promise but a warning as 
well viz. The ‘‘Times of the Gentiles’’ is drawing 
to its end. But the direct lesson that Jesus here 
teaches is, that ‘‘when the fig tree (and all the trees 
Luke 21:29) putteth forth its leaves, ye know that 
the summer is nigh; even so ye also when ye see all 
these things, know ye that He (Jesus) is nigh, even 
at the doors’’ (Matt. 24: 32, 33). 


[205] 


CHAPTER XXI 


Restoration of the Jews 


‘*C\X HOW me a miracle:’’ said Frederick the Great 

to his Court preacher. ‘‘The Jew, Your Maj- 
esty, the Jew is a miracle’’ was the instant reply. 
Who can look upon these descendants of Abraham 
and of Moses, and out of whom came the Saviour of 
the world, without feeling that he is in vital touch 
with the sacred past, the living present, and the future 
object of Bible prophecy. Whatever we may think of 
the Jewish people, they are so interwoven with the 
history and the destiny of the human race that we will 
have to ery out with Paul, ‘‘ Who are Israelites ; whose 
is the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and 
the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the 
‘promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom is 
Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God 
blessed forever, Amen’’ (Rom. 9:4, 5). Archaeolo- 
gists are now digging up valuable monuments in ‘‘ Ur, 
of the Chaldees,’’ the birthplace of Abraham; while 
nearly four thousand years after that birth Lord Bal- 
four, one of the world’s greatest statesman, is deliv- 
ering the address at the dedication of a great Hebrew 
University at Jerusalem. ‘‘Few they are in num- 
bers,’’ as God had predicted if they were disobedient, 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


yet everywhere present, a force for good or evil. The 
greatness and nobility of soul of ‘‘Father Abraham’’ 
and Isaac has ever been conspicuous among them; but 
alas, the ignoble, selfish, crafty, bargaining spirit of 
Rebekah and Laban and also of Jacob until God 
crushed it out of him, has too many times been in the 
ascendancy. Honored and rewarded, even more than 
others, because of the former; but despised and perse- 
cuted everywhere because of the prevalence of the 
latter. But never before in their history were they so 
much in the limelight of the world as to-day. The 
dry, dead bones of Ezekiel’s vision are taking on 
sinews and life, and God’s statement is soon to be 
realized ; ‘‘The nations shall know that I am Jehovah 
that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in 
the midst of them for evermore’’ (Hzek. 37: 1-14, 28). 


PALESTINE COVENANTED TO ABRAHAM 


‘* Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, 
and in the breadth; for unto thee will I give it.’’ 
‘And I will establish my covenant. between thee and 
thy seed after thee throughout their generations for. 
an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to 
thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to 
thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all 
the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession: and 
I will be their God’’ (Gen. 13:17; 17:7, 8). The land 
of Canaan was thus promised to Abraham and his 
seed after him, and was preempted by him as he jour- 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


neyed through the land. This promise was also given 
to Isaac and Jacob and the land was held by them 
(Gen. 26:3; 28:13) until the entrance into Egypt. 
But during the sojourn in Egypt this right by pre- 
emption was forfeited, so it had to be regained by 
conquest. The land was not only promised but God 
made it ‘‘an everlasting covenant’’ for ‘‘an ever- 
lasting possession.””? But when one party breaks the 
conditions of the covenant as the Jews have done, the 
other party, God, 1s released. But there is this differ- 
ence between God’s covenant and that between men, 
for God knows the outcome of it all when He makes it; 
and when He adds His promise, knowing at the time 
that the Jews would disobey, He feels under obliga- 
tion to yet perform His part. So when He brought 
them up out of the land of Egypt Moses says it was 
‘“because He would keep the oath which He sware 
unto your fathers’’ (Deut. 4:8). Paul says ‘‘they 
(the Jews) are beloved for the father’s sake’’ (Rom. 
11:28). ‘‘Not for your sakes, O house of Israel do I 
this; but for the nations round about’’ (Ezek. 36:32, 
36). These last two verses refer to their restoration 
to Palestine. God has gloriously fulfilled His ‘‘cove- 
nant of promise’’ through Christ, which the Law, the 
Jewish covenant did not disannul (Gal. 3:14, 16-29), 
and this New Covenant will be brought to its fullest 
realization when Christ returns with His Glorified 
Bride to reign upon this earth. But the restoration of 
the Jews to their own land is another thing and rests 


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sna alll a 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


wholly upon God’s promises to the Jews and to them 
alone (Gen. 15:18, 26:3, 28:18). 


From ‘‘ Boston EvENnINnNG TRANSCRIPT’’ 


The following was written by the author in October, 
1917, and appeared in the central square of the 
‘Churchman Afield’’ in the Saturday evening issue 
of the Boston Evening Transcript at the time of the 
entrance of Gen. Allenby and his army into Jerusa- 
lem. It was copied into religious journals in St. 
Louis, New York, Halifax, N. S., and extracts ap- 
peared in the Jewish Digest, Cleveland Ohio. Ex- 
cepting the first paragraph, we insert the article in 
this place. 


PROPHECY OF ISAIAH AND EZEKIEL 


‘‘And it shall come to pass in that day, that the 
Lord will set his hand, again, the second time to re- 
cover the remnant of his people that shall remain. 
.. . And he will set up an ensign for the nations and 
will assemble the outeasts of Israel, and gather to- 
ovether the dispersed of Judah from the four corners 
of the earth’’ (Isa. 11:11, 12). As this is called the 
‘“second time,’’ the return from Babylon would be the 
first. Then it is to be ‘‘in that day.’’ What day? 
‘*In that day’’ when ‘‘the earth shall be full of the 
knowledge of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea”’ 
(Isa. 11:9). That day has never been until the pres- 
ent and only partially so now. Then again this return 


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PROPHECIES AND THSIR FULFILLMENT 


is to be when ‘‘He shall set up an ensign for the 
nations,’’ which is ‘‘the root of Jesse’’. . . the Mes- 
siah, which the missionaries are now lifting up among 
all the nations (Isa. 11:1-5, 10, 11). 

‘‘Hor I will take you from among the nations and 
gather you out of all the countries and will bring you 
into your own land. . . . A new heart also will I give 
you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I 
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh... . 
And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to 
walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my ordinances 
and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave 
to your fathers: and ye shall be my people and I will 
be your God’’ (Ezek. 36 :24-28). This has not yet been 
fulfilled for the stony heart still remains. It cannot 
mean the church, for the words ‘‘your own land,’’ 
‘‘the land that I gave to your fathers,’’ means Pales- 
tine. In Paul’s day this ‘‘hardening’’ was still upon 
Israel, which still continues and will, until the ful- 
ness of the Gentiles be come in ‘‘ When all Israel shall 
be saved,’’ as prophesied above (see Rom. 11:25, 26). 
When Israel returns to Palestine, and after God’s 
drastic dealings with them, then this ‘‘stony heart”’ 
is removed. This agrees with the prophecy of Jesus 
(Luke 21:24). ‘‘And they (the Jews) shall be led 
captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem shall be 
trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the 
Gentiles be fulfilled.’’ The word ‘‘until’’ shows that 
there will be a time when Jerusalem will not be trodden 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


down of the Gentiles, but will be restored to the Jews, 
when the new heart and Spirit are given and the 
times of the Gentiles are fulfilled’’ (ef. Ezek. 36 :24- 
28, Rom. 11:25, Luke 21:24, Rev. 7:3-8, Eph. 1:18). 


THE Zionist MovEMENT 


‘‘And Jehovah set me down in the midst of the 
valley, and it was full of bones. And he said unto 
me, Prophesy over these bones and say unto them, Be- 
hold, says Jehovah, I will cause breath to enter into 
you and ye shall live. So I prophesied, and the bones 
came together, bone to its bone, and I beheld sinews 
upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them. 
Again I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath 
came into them, and they lived and stood up on their 
feet, an exceeding great army. Then said he unto me, 
Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. 
Behold they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope 
is lost; we are clean cut off. But, saith Jehovah, I will 
open your graves, O my people; I will put my spirit 
in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your 
own land, and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have 
spoken it and performed it’’ (Ezek. 37:1-14). 

What a graphic picture of the awakening of Israel 
by the Zionists’ movement of our day. This is no 
description of conversion nor of the general resurrec- 
tion, as Talmadge might assume; but Zionism arous- 
ing ‘‘the whole house of Israel’’ out of its sleep of 
millenniums; thrilling them with a new hope; breath- 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


ing into them a national spirit, that it may stand up a 
great national body to be filled and sealed at last with 
God’s Spirit, when they are restored to Palestine, 
which is now being opened up to them. And this is to 
be permanent, which shows that it has not yet been ful- 
filled. ‘‘Behold, I will take the children of Israel from 
among the nations, whither they are gone, and bring 
them into their own land that I have given unto Jacob, 
my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall 
dwell therein, they and their children and their chil- 
dren’s children forever’’ (Ezek. 87:25). With this 
agrees Amos 9:14, 15, ‘‘I will bring back the cap- 
tivity of my people Israel, and they shall build the 
waste cities and inhabit them, and they shall plant 
vineyards and make gardens and eat the fruit of 
them; and I will plant them upon their land, and they 
shall no more be plucked out of their land which I 
have given them, saith Jehovah thy God.’’ 


PROPHECY CONCERNING THE LAND 


But the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning the 
land are as remarkable as those about the people. 
‘‘And I will bring the land into desolation and your 
enemies that dwell therein shall be astonished at it, 
and you, will I scatter among the nations... and 
your land shall be a desolation and your cities shall 
be a waste. Then shall the land enjoy its Sabbaths 
as long as it lieth desolate, and ye are in your enemies’ 
land’’ (Lev. 26 :32-34). The remarkable thing in this 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


prophecy and many similar ones is, that while the 
Jews are in the enemies’ country for 1,800 years, no 
one, to any extent inhabits and cultivates this fair 
portion of the earth. Why did Peter the Hermit and 
the Crusaders, one after another, fail to permanently 
wrest this land from the Mohammedans? Why was 
Russia despoiled of her victory, when Turkey, in 
1877, lay bleeding at her feet? Disraeli, the Jew, 
called the Berlin conference, and the life of the ‘‘Sick 
Man of Europe’’—Turkey—was prolonged. Every- 
one knows that Russia, with superstitious devotion, 
would have populated Palestine, so, when the Jew 
was ready to return, it would have been occupied. 
Why has the ‘‘Unspeakable Turk’’ been allowed to 
possess so long Constantinople, and the fairest por- 
tion of the earth, which Napoleon said was the natural 
capital of the world ? 

The Jews and Palestine have been the underlying 
cause of the great Eastern question that has agitated 
Europe for a hundred years. It is about to be settled 
now in the crushing of the ‘‘Bloody Turk’’ and the 
Hohenzollerns and Hapsbures, and the restoration 
of the Jew to his own land. The Turk, who blights 
everything he touches, was to possess this land with 
superstitious reverence; for he also reveres Abraham 
and Moses, etc., holding it intact, to give it back to the 
Jews, with all its virgin soil, its mines and treasures 
still hidden in its mountains and the rich deposits 
recently discovered around the Dead Sea. Minerals 


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PROPHECIES AND THETR FULFILLMENT 


have been discovered of great values and amounts, but 
the Turk refused to let the discoverer get away with 
his find. Missionary A. EK. Thompson, lately of Jeru- 
salem, says the agents of the Standard Oil Company 
found petroleum in such quantities around the Dead 
- Sea that they hastened home, but they only got as far 

back as Alexandria, Egypt, with their machinery, 
where it is now held by the war. 

‘*Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and 
to the hills, to the water courses and to the valleys, to 
the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, 
which are become a prey and derision to the residue 
of the nations around about.’’ ‘‘ Behold I am for you 
and will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and 
sown, and I will multiply men upon you and all the 
house of Israel, even all of it. And the cities shall be 
inhabited after your former estate, and I will do 
better unto you than at your beginnings, and ye shall 
know that I am Jehovah.’’ ‘‘And they shall say, 
This land that was desolate is become like the Garden 
of Eden.’’ ‘‘Then the nations that are left round 
about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have builded 
the ruined places, and planted that which was deso- 
late: I, Jehovah have spoken it, and I will do it”’ 
(Ezek. 36:4, 9, 35, 36). 


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CHAPTER XXII 


The Jews in Revelation 


VER twenty years ago, after a discussion of this 
question with the Editor of the Pacifie Chris- 
tian, we closed with this statement: ‘‘ Although the 
Editor cannot accept my exegesis of the above Scrip- 
ture, we will have to wait until he will see the realiza- 
tion of these prophecies in the restoration of the Jews 
to Palestine in the near future.’’ Not only this Edi- 
tor, but the great majority of religious journals and 
teachers contended as strongly as he against the prob- 
ability of the literal fulfillment of these clear prophe- 
cies. 

But now, not only can there by no more denial, but 
there ought to be a deep conviction that it was God 
who spoke these clear prophecies; for no one but God 
who is now fulfilling them could have spoken them 
thousands of years ago. But let us notice the prophe- 
cies in the book of Revelation concerning the Jews. 


THE SEALING OF THE 144000 


‘“*And I saw another angel ascend from the sun- 
rising (East) having the seal of the living God: and 
he eried with a great voice to the four angels ‘Hurt 
not the earth, etc., till we shall have sealed the ser- 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


vants of our God on their forehead. And I heard the 
number of them that were sealed, a hundred and forty 
and four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the 
children of Israel’’ (Rev. 7:2-8). 

There were twelve thousand sealed out of each tribe, 
while the name of Joseph appears in the place of 
Ephraim and Levi instead of Dan. As the twelve 
tribes are mentionéd by name, and they are called 
‘‘the children of Israel,’’ they must be the Jews and 
them only that are sealed. Two classes are mentioned 
in this seventh chapter : one, the innumerable company 
‘‘out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and 
tongues’’ that have been caught up ‘‘out of the great 
tribulation’’ (7:9-14) and the other these 144000 
sealed Jews who are left upon the earth to be God’s 
witnesses during the great tribulation that follows 
Christ’s appearance in the clouds (Rev. 6 :12-17; Matt. 
24:30; Luke 21:25, 26) ; and which will continue until 
Christ returns with His saints to reign (Rev. 8:7-19: 
21). When one of these classes is spoken of as the 
Redeemed and the other as Israelites we have no right 
to say that these Jews represent Christians especially 
when the twelve tribes are specifically mentioned. 
The number is probably representative. Their 
sealing denotes that they have received God’s Spirit ; 
for that is the way the Christians are sealed (Eph. 
1:13, 4:30). This is what God promised to the re- 
turned Jews; ‘‘And I will put my Spirit within you, 
ete’’ (Ezek. 36:27; 87:14). This we believe, is ‘‘the 


[216] 


eal in 
©) ne ee Ss 


PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


Remnant”’ that returns to God at first. We find in 
Rev. 9:4 that God protects these sealed ones from the 
plagues that come upon the earth, just as He pro- 
tected the Israelites from the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 
Oeste cl 5:)% 


Tue TEMPLE OF Gop 


‘And there was given unto me a reed like unto a 
rod: and one said, ‘Rise and measure the temple of 
God and the altar, and them that worship therein. 
And the court which is without the temple, leave with- 
out and measure it not: for it hath been given unto the 
nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot 
forty and two months’ ’’ (Rev. 11:1, 2). 

A purchaser of lumber, stone or land accepts all 
that he measures. What is not measured is rejected. 
So the measuring of the temple and altar and the 
worshippers is God’s acceptance of both, but He re- 
jects the court that is without and Jerusalem which 
it represents (vs. 8). We understand from this that 
the temple, which God owns as his, has been rebuilt 
upon the earth. John was on earth with the angel 
when he was told to ‘‘rise and measure’’ (Rev. 10:8, 
11) and the court, ‘‘which is without’’ and ‘‘the na- 
tions’’ are certainly upon the earth. It has an altar 
and people are worshipping therein. If this is the 
same temple that is so carefully described by Ezekiel, 
(chapters 40-48) it is built upon ‘‘ a very high moun- 
tain, whereon was, as it were, the frame of a city on 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


the south’’ (Ezek. 40:2, 48:12). There is much in 
this eleventh chapter of Revelation to show that there 
are two irreconcilable forces in Palestine: one, these 
144000 sealed Israelites; the other, a mongrel people 
that are spoken of as ‘‘the court which is without the 
temple,’’ which John was forbidden to measure, ‘‘for 
it hath been given unto the nations.’’ 


JERUSALEM A WICKED CIiTy 


Everything indicates that the policy of Zionism is 
to let all religions continue in Palestine, which is also 
a well-known policy of Great Britain, who has the 
protectorate over Palestine. It was the power of this 
policy that thwarted the ‘‘Holy War’’ that Turkey 
evoked during the world war; for the Moslems, more 
of whom are under the British rule than under any 
other government, chose her rule to that of the 
treacherous Turk or that of the Central Powers. Ezra 
and Nehemiah would not allow the Sanballots and 
Tobiahs to have any share in their work. While this 
will be the program in reference to the building of 
the temple, yet all classes will be permitted to live in 
Jerusalem, and others will claim the right to build as 
many temples as they choose. The Greek church and 
the Church of Rome, that hold Palestine with super- 
stitious reverence, will view askance the giving the 
Jews the exclusive right to this country, and the 
present residents of Palestine (the Moslems and 
Arabs) cannot be easily excluded. Temples and 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


shrines will exist everywhere and all shades of religion 
will be permitted, which will make Jerusalem a great 
and probably a prosperous city yet ‘‘spiritually as 
Sodom and Egypt’’ (Rev. 11:8). As many Jews are 
radical Socialists, they will be very prominent in the 
Two-Beasts government and may bring Jerusalem, 
ete., under the control of the Antichrist. 


THE GREATEST TRIBULATION OR JACOB’S TROUBLE 


This is the time of Jacob’s trouble (Jer. 30:7). 
When Satan, who is using the beast government, goes 
away from the woman in a great rage (Rev. 12:17) 
and ‘‘makes war with the rest of her seed,’’ which are 
‘‘the saints’’ (the 144,000) and overcomes them (Rev. 
18:7) and even kills God’s chosen witnesses (Rev. 
11:7), who were endowed with miraculous power; and 
‘their dead bodies lie in the streets of that great city, 
where their Lord was crucified,’’ surely this would be 
the time of Jacob’s trouble. Note, it is ‘‘Jacob’’— 
the Supplanter, that God is subduing again, by rigid 
discipline and violent wrestlings, before he can become 
again ‘‘Israel’’ the ‘‘Prevailer with God’’ (Gen. 32: 
28). 

Probably it is during this period, while the wit- 
nesses ‘‘clothed in sackeloth’’ are testifying, that the 
prophecy of Zechariah (13:7-9) is fulfilled. ‘‘ Awake, 
O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man 
that is my fellow (the Two Witnesses) saith Jehovah 
of hosts; smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


scattered ;’’ ‘‘ And it shall come to pass that in all the 
land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off 
and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I 
will bring the third part into the fire and refine them 
as silver is refined and will try them as gold is tried. 
They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I 
will say, It is my people; and they shall say Jehovah 
is my God’’ (cf. Rev. 11:7, 18; 16:19). 

This is the time when the beast government devas- 
tates ‘‘the land’’ leaving only one-third to be refined. 
The two witnesses were not slain until their testimony 
was finished, just as Jesus did not die as God’s saeri- 
fice until his hour had come. The capture of Jerusa- 
lem is also described. 

‘*Behold a day of Jehovah cometh, when thy spoil 
shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather 
all the nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the 
city shall be taken and the houses rifled, and the 
women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth 
into captivity and the residue of the people shall be 
cut off from the city’’ (Zech. 14:1, 2). 

Remember, that God is dealing with the whole im- 
penitent world during this interval, while the Lamb 
and his Bride are in heaven. The severe plagues and 
woes under the seven trumpets, which culminate in 
the seven bowls of wrath, that bring God’s judgments 
to a full consummation in the utter destruction of the 
beast government and false prophet in the battle of 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


Armageddon, are God’s judgments on the whole 
earth. But ‘‘for the father’s sake’’ (Rom. 11:28) 
and the sake of His promise and oath, (Gen. 13:15: 
17:8; 22:16; Deut. 29:12, 18) and for the sake of the 
nations (Ezek. 36:32, 86), but not for Israel’s sake 
alone, who had forfeited every right even to his mercy, 
God is especially working to reclaim Israel. He is 
permitting the ‘‘breaking in pieces the power of the 
holy people’’ (Israel Dan. 12:7). 


Gop Breaks IsrAgn’s Stony HEART 


He is using drastic measures to ‘‘take away the 
heart of stone’’ by crushing it, that He may put the 
tender heart and his Holy Spirit in its place (Ezek. 
36:26, Rom. 11:25). God says in Zech. 12:10-12: ‘‘I 
will pour upon the house of David and upon the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of 
supplication; and they shall look unto me whom they 
have pierced: and they shall mourn for him, as one 
mourneth for his only son and shall be in bitterness 
for him as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. 
In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusa- 
lem.’’ Jesus and Daniel both agree with Jeremiah in 
speaking of these times. 

‘*Hor then shall be great tribulation, such as hath 
not been from the beginning of the world until now: 


no, nor ever shall be’’ (Mat. 24:21, Dan. 12:1, ef. Jer. 
30:7). 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION 


Jesus also indicates that at this time ‘‘the abomina- 
tion of desolation, which was spoken of through 
Daniel the prophet, is standing in the holy place’’ 
(Mat. 24:15, Dan. 9:27; 11:31; 12:11); which is the 
time when the ‘‘Lawless One’’ ‘‘sitteth in the temple 
of God, setting himself forth as God’’ (II Thess. 2:4). 
The image is probably placed in Jerusalem or possibly 
in the temple by the false prophet (Mat. 24:15), 
which constitutes this ‘‘abomination that makes deso- 
late;’’ for the oracle that issues forth from the image 
is ‘‘to kill’’ (Rev. 13:15) which will make desolate 
indeed. 

But Jesus in alluding to these tribulation times, 
says, ‘‘ Except those days had been shortened, no flesh 
would have been saved; but for the elects’ sake those 
days shall be shortened’’ (Mat. 24:22). This was 
done in the resurrection of the two witnesses and their 
ascension, which was followed by a great earthquake 
and the killing of seven thousand, which cut it short, 
and later by the coming of Jesus and his army who 
destroy the beast, ete. 


ASCENSION AND HARTHQUAKE 


‘‘And their dead bodies lie in the street of the 
great city which spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And from 
among the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations do men 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


look upon their dead bodies three days and a half 
and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 
And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them 
and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to 
another; because these two prophets tormented them 
that dwell on the earth. And after the three days and 
a half the breath of life from God entered into them, 
and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell 
upon them that beheld them. And they heard a great 
voice from heaven saying unto them, ‘Come up 
hither.’ And they went up into heaven in the cloud; 
and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour 
there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the 
city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven 
thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted and 
gave glory to the God of heaven’’ (Rev. 11:8-18). 
Whoever these two witnesses are, they are tremen- 
dous powers for righteousness. Their miraculous 
power and continuing for three years and a half has 
had a wonderful effect upon the Israelites as well as 
upon all others. Their bringing the judgments of 
God upon the impenitent, cause them to be hated as 
well as dreaded by all the world. But the great re- 
joicing of their enemies is turned into terror when 
these two witnesses, in response to the great voice from 
heaven, suddenly stand upon their feet, amidst those 
who were gloating over their death, and their terror 
and dread increase as they see these two ascend into 
heaven in the cloud. Then when the earth begins to 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


quake and a tenth part of the city falls and seven 
thousand are killed, no wonder ‘‘the rest are affrighted 
and give glory to the God of heaven.’’ I believe this 
repentance is genuine. 


ISRAEL’S REGENERATION 


It is Israel’s regeneration as a nation, which is 
‘“‘born in a day’’ (Is. 66:5-9). ‘‘At that time’’ says 
Daniel, ‘‘thy people shall be delivered, every one that 
shall be found written in the book’’ (Dan. 12:1, ef. 
Rev. 13:8; 17:8). ‘‘Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and 
be glad for her, all ye that love her,’’ cried Jehovah 
(Is. 66:10). ‘“‘I will extend peace to her like a river, 
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing 
stream.’’ 

‘‘And the seventh angel sounded; and there were 
great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the 
world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his 
Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever. And 
the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their 
thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God, 
saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God the AI- 
mighty, who art and who wast; because thou hast 
taken thy great power and didst reign. And the na- 
tions were wroth, and thy wrath came and the time 
of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their 
reward to thy servants the prophets and to the saints, 
and to them that fear thy name, the small and the 


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PROPHECIES AND THEIR FULFILLMENT 


creat; and to destroy them that destroy the earth’’ 
(Rev. 11:15-18). 

We see from this exultant shout of ‘‘the great voices 
in heaven’’ that the glorious, visible reign of ‘‘our 
Lord and of his Christ’’ is about to begin upon the 
earth. ‘‘The fulness of the Gentiles has now come in’’ 
(Rey. 11:25) as witnessed by that rejoicing ‘‘multi- 
tude that no man can number”’ that are caught up 
‘‘before the throne’’ (Rev. 7:9-17: 12:5). God has 
now fulfilled his promise and oath to ‘‘the fathers’’ 
in the saving of Israel (Rom. 11 :26-29) and ‘‘the time 
has come to give their reward to thy servants the 
prophets and the saints’’ ‘‘and to destroy them that 
destroy the earth’’ (Rev. 11:18). 


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Part V 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 





CHAPTER XXIII 


Christ’s Second Coming—Why 
Unpopular 


EK cannot close this book without some brief 

\ \ statements about the Return of our LORD. It 
is strange that there should be so much prejudice 
against this great theme, which occupies so large a 
place in the Bible. Jesus gave to it a whole sermon 
(Matt. 24:3-25:46) and it is the great theme of the 
book of Revelation. In fact the title of that great 
book is ‘‘The Revelation—the Unveiling of Jesus the 
Christ’’ in His glorious Return to this earth to reign. 
The apostle Paul mentions it in every chapter of his 
first epistle to the Thessalonians, and it is the theme 
of his second Epistle and he also mentions it in his 
last (II Tim. 4:18) and he inserts it into the com- 
munion viz: ‘‘ Till He come’’ (I Cor. 11:26). 

Two reasons can be given for this prejudice. One 
is the natural aversion to the idea of any change 
coming to the natural and present order of things. 
‘* As things have been, so will they always be.’’ Espe- 
cially is this the plea of those who are leaders as is 
shown by the rulers in the days of Jesus when He and 
John preached the end of the old and the coming in of 


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a New Order. Peter says ‘‘In the last days mockers 
shall come saying ‘Where is the promise of His com- 
ing? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, 
all things continue as they were from the beginning of 
creation’ ’’ (II Pet. 3:3-4). The other reason for this 
prejudice is in the reckless setting of dates and the 
foolish arguments given in its defense. 


FALSE ARGUMENTS IN DEFENSE 


A few years ago we heard the following from a 
preacher of some renown on ‘‘The Signs of Christ’s 
Coming.’’ (1) ‘‘ Enoch was the Seventh from Adam.’’ 
‘‘Enoch was translated ; therefore in the seven thous- 
andth year the saints will be translated by Christ’s 
coming.’’ This certainly gives a large margin, and 
might do as an illustration, but it is no argument. (2) 
‘* Jesus abode at that time two days in the place where 
He was’’ (John 11:6). ‘‘As Jesus tarried two days 
before He went to raise Lazarus, and as the resurrec- 
tion of Lazarus is a type of the resurrection of the 
saints so He will wait two thousand years before He 
returns to raise the saints.’’ He forgot that Lazarus 
had been dead four days before he was raised. (8) 
‘*Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars’’ (Matt. 
24:6). How often do we hear this given as a sign. 
Yet Jesus says it is not a sign. ‘‘See that ye be not 
troubled; for those things must needs come to pass; 
but the end is not yet.’’? Wars, etc., have always ex- 
isted; how then could this be a sign by itself? (4) 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


‘* As it came to pass in the days of Noah even so shall 
it be also in the days of the Son of Man’’ (Luke 17: 
26), that is, the world was full of wickedness before 
the flood; the world is full of wickedness now, there- 
fore, Jesus will soon return. How often do we hear 
this: But Jesus says nothing about the wickedness be- 
fore the flood, but just the opposite. He says ‘‘they 
ate, they drank, they married ;’’ same as in the days 
of Lot: they bought, they sold, they planted, they 
builded, ete., (vs. 28). They were doing just what 
God commanded viz; Marrying, building homes and 
planting their fields, ete. All that Jesus says is that 
the world would be so busy in these things, which are 
legitimate enough, that they would not know until the 
time came suddenly upon them. 

‘‘In the last days grevious times shall come’’ (II 
Tim. 3:1-7), and that we are entering into these times 
because of the absence of authority and control is 
shown by facts all around us; but Jesus in this com- 
parison is only speaking of the unexpectedness and 
therefore the unpreparedness of the world for the 
creat event of His coming. 


PropHet NAHUM’s RAILWAY 


While many times we have heard of this prophecy 
concerning the railway of our day, yet the following 
which is unique is found in ‘‘The Finished Mystery’’ 
(page 93) published by the International Bible Stu- 
dents Association, A. D. 1917. We give this to show 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


the danger of such loose methods of interpretation. 
The text is Nah. 2:3-6. 

‘‘He (Nahum) describes a railway train in mo- 
tion.’’ ‘‘ First, the prophet stands looking at the engine 
coming toward him and then he says ‘The shield—the 
headlight is made red (shines brilliantly) ; the valiant 
men (the engineer and fireman) are dyed scarlet (by 
the light from the firebox). The chariots (the railway 
coaches) shall be with flaming torches in the Day of 
Preparation. ’’ 

‘*Next the prophet takes his place in the train and 
looks out of the windows and seemingly the fir trees 
shall be terribly shaken (telegraph poles fairly danc- 
ing). The chariots shall rage in the streets (a railway 
is a highway). ‘They shall justle one against the other 
in the broadways’ (cars bumping together). ‘They 
shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lght- 
nings’ (train at full speed at night). Next the 
prophet sees the conductor coming for his tickets and 
says ‘he shall recount his worthies’ (checking up the 
passengers by recounting them). ‘They shall stumble 
in their walk’ (try walking on a fast moving train) 
‘they shall make haste to the wall thereof (to the next 
city or town) and the coverer (train-shed, the station) 
shall be prepared’’ (baggagemen, busses, friends wait- 
ing). ‘The gates of the rivers shall be opened (the 
doors of the cars will be opened and the people will 
flow out) and the palace (car) shall be dissolved’ 
(emptied).”’ 


[232] 





\ 
z, 
od 
4 
> 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


There you have it, though a little condensed, just as 
it is given, without our comments or brackets. It isa 
rare specimen! Search among the ‘‘backwood 
preachers’’ and you will find nothing to surpass it. 
And yet this is a product of the ‘‘ International Bible 
Students Association.’’ 

Now read Nahum 2:3-6 and you will see that there 
is no allusion to any railway, say nothing about the 
ridiculous details. It is a prophecy against Nineveh 
as is shown in 1:1; 2:8; 3:1-9. The chariots raging 
in the streets have horses (3:2) and their ‘‘rushing to 
and fro’’ show that they were in a panic, which 
would be caused by the capture of the city by the 
‘‘opening of the gates of the rivers,’’ etc., which is 
also clearly shown in 3:1-3. The fir-trees (‘‘telegraph 
poles’’) is translated in A. R. V. ‘*The cypress spears 
are brandished’’ and ‘‘the chariots rush to and fro 
in the broad ways.’’ We know that railroads are not 
permitted to run on our broad ways. Torches were 
used upon chariots in those days. It describes the 
Automobiles more than Railways, but the writer says 
‘‘no it is a railway and not the Auto.’’ Any man 
who can construe ‘‘the gates of the rivers are opened’’ 
into the ‘‘doors of the cars will be opened and the 
people will flow out’’ is not fit to teach in a kinder- 
garten. To make the word ‘‘Palace’’ to mean a ‘‘Pal- 
ace car’’ is trifling with God’s Holy Word. While 
this is the work of Pastor Russell’s followers yet most 


[233] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


of his own quotations from this prophecy and others 
is irrelevant. 


THe BirtTH OF THE ANTICHRIST 


We give another specimen from the same book, 
which is not so humorous but more shocking (pages 
183-192). The text is Rev. 12:1-12 and the subject is 
‘“‘The Birth of the Antichrist.’’ 

‘‘T™he woman is The early church.’’ ‘‘And she 
being with child—as a result of the Mystery of 
Iniquity which was working within her (II Thess. 
2:7). She crieth, travailing in birth—desired to get 
rid of the loathsome thing.’’ ‘‘Behold a great red 
dragon—The Pagan Roman Empire.’’ ‘‘The dragon- 
Imperial Rome, represented by Constantine, stood be- 
fore the woman—the early Christian church to devour 
her child—absorb it. And she brought forth a man- 
child, The Papacy.’’ ‘‘And her child was caught up 
unto God and unto His throne.’’ 

(Here the argument is that the Papacy claims 
falsely to represent God and His throne. But the 
statement is that the child was actually ‘‘caught up 
unto God and His throne.’’ It is preposterous to 
think the Revelator meant the Papacy; for it (this 
child) would then swallow the dragon instead of being 
caught up; for it was papal Rome that absorbed the 
Pagan. It is very evident that this writer has read 
this interpretation in some Roman Catholic Com- 
mentary, and has mixed it in with his own, making a 


[234] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


rare conglomeration. But this man-child is ‘‘to rule 
all the nations with a rod of iron’’ (firm rule). This 
is the same description as Rev. 19:15; 2:25, 27 which 
without doubt, means the Christ and His Bride, who 
are caught up and through whose testimony Satan is 
east down. But we will proceed.) 

‘There was war in heaven (Rev. 12:7)—( Between 
Pagan and Papal Rome).’’ ‘‘Michael, who as God 
the Pope, fought against the dragon, attempted to get 
the temporal power away from the civil rulers.’’ 
‘‘And the great dragon—Imperial Rome—is cast 
out.’’ ‘‘Verses 9-12 contain the rejoicings of the 
Papacy over their triumph.’’ ‘‘And I heard a loud 
voice saying in heaven (in the Roman Catholic 
Church) ‘Now is come Salvation’.’’ ‘‘And the King- 
dom of our God (The Papacy really believed that its 
exaltation was the Kingdom of God on earth.)’’ ‘‘For 
the accuser of our brethren is cast down (Pagan Rome 
truthfully accused the Papacy of lying, and of every 
other crime on the calendar.)’’ ‘‘And they overcame 
him by the blood of the Lamb (this is the way it 
looks to Catholics even to this day; “By this sign (the 
eross) conquer’ was the Crusader’s standard).’’ 
‘‘Therefore rejoice ye heavens—Catholic heavens— 
popes, bishops and prelates.’’ 

Any comment seems to be unnecessary. According 
to this, the war in heaven is the battle between Pagan 
and Papal Rome. The Archangel ‘‘Michael is God 
the Pope’’ and heaven is simply ‘‘the Roman Catho- 


[235] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


lic Churech’’ and the rejoicing in heaven is the 
‘‘Catholic heavens—popes, bishops and prelates re- 
joicing.’’ According to this the Devil, Pagan Rome, 
in ‘‘accusing our brethren’’ told the whole truth in- 
stead of being ‘‘the deceiver of the whole world.’’ 
Then in the next chapter this man-child—the Papacy 
is represented as the Beast. Wonder how Michael the 
Archangel of the highest heavens likes to be called the 
Pope—‘‘the Antichrist’’—‘‘The Beast.’’ 

But enough of this. It is sickening to think of 
millions of volumes being circulated containing such 
false interpretations of the Bible and people gathered 
into the largest halls to hear lectures upon startling 
subjects as ‘‘ Millions now living will never die.’’ If 
we had nothing more than this that the I. B. 8. A. is 
giving out, who could blame real Bible students for 
turning against this great theme of Christ’s Return 
to reign. It is one of Satan’s devices to bring the 
whole subject into disrepute, and it becomes one of 
the signs that Christ’s coming is near, when we hear 
them continually saying in such loud headlines and 
circulars ‘‘Lo, here and Lo, there,’’ ‘‘ He is invisible,”’ 
‘‘He is in the inner chamber’’ (Matt. 24:26). ‘‘Be- 
lieve it not’’ says Jesus. 


THE POSTPONEMENT THEORY 


Much prejudice was created against this doctrine 
of the Second Coming of Christ, by what is called 
the ‘‘postponement theory’’; which is that Jesus 


[236] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


would have taken the throne of David, if He had not 
been rejected by the Jews, and have reigned glori- 
ously over the whole earth from Jerusalem. Because 
of this rejection, the kingdom was postponed and 
the church was brought in as a parenthesis. But 
when Jesus returns He will then occupy the throne 
of David at Jerusalem and govern the world from 
thence, giving the Jews the preeminence. But we 
believe that this position in part at least, has been 
largely abandoned, or at least is not pressed to the 
front as formerly. Two lessons we can learn from 
this. 


Must Brecin WitH Curist 


First, that it is unsafe to form a theory from a 
study of the Old Testament first and then project 
it into the New Testament, conforming its teaching 
to this preconceived theory. We must sit at the 
feet of Jesus and hear Him say, ‘‘But I say unto 
—you’’ (Matt. 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, etc.). We must get 
His viewpoint of the Old as well as of the New Testa- 
ment. We must stand amidst the rays of His bril- 
liant light and move on with Him to the cross and 
through an opened grave to God’s right hand of 
power and then on to Pentecost, where under the 
illumination of the Holy Paraclete we can then fol- 
low the light as it reveals the types and shadows of 
the Old Testament. The best commentary on the 
Old Testament is the comments of the Christ and 


[237] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


that. of His Holy Advocate throughout the New 
Testament. A prolific source of error is in flounder- 
ing around amidst the curtains, rings, poles and 
sockets of the tabernacle, etc., or making running 
comments on the prophecies as is done in this book 
of the I. B. 8. A., ‘‘The Finished Mystery.’’ Some 
of these men use the Bible only as a frame to hang 
up to view their own crude ideas. 


DANGER OF STEREOTYPED SCHOOLS 


The second lesson is that we may learn the danger 
of theories and schools of thought with their stereo- 
typed doctrines. What could Jesus do with the 
schools of Gamaliel and Hillel and the sects of the 
Pharisees, etc., even though they contained a Saul 
or a Nicodemus? These systems formed a cake with 
its hard crust around its adherents so that even the 
light shining from Jesus could not penetrate them.. 
Oh to be open and simple minded ever ready to re- 
ceive the truth and obey its leadings. Become like 
children—have their inquiring minds and receptive 
hearts says Jesus. How teachable was the late A. B. 
Simpson. With open mind and heart he was ever 
receiving, not near so certain about some things as 
some of his associates, therefore very seldom, if ever, 
did he have to retreat. Yet see what a mighty store- 
house of truth and blessing did the Master give to 
him to pour out without stint upon a needy world. 
Then God wishes to teach us not to rely too much 


[238] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


upon human teachers. So God permits some of our 
most loved, gifted and true-hearted brethren, whom 
we respect and honor to put forth theories some- 
times, that when the test comes, fail to be sustained 
by God’s Word. He wants us as far as is possible 
to take truth at first hand from Him through His 
precious word. How the author of this book praises 
God, that through so many mistakes made in a min- 
istry of forty years, God is still turning his erring 
feet into the ight of His unerring Word. 


No PostPoNEMENT ACCORDING TO JESUS AND JOHN 


This postponement theory, we believe, is refuted 
by John the forerunner, when he introduced Jesus 
by, ‘‘Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sin of the world’’ (John 1:29). Before there was 
any opposition, John saw Jesus as the Lamb to be 
slain and not one to be crowned at Jerusalem. Not 
only did Jesus have to die as a sin offering, but as 
the High Priest, ‘‘Christ entered into heaven itself 
now to appear before the face of God for us’’ (Heb. 
9:24) ; so that the Holy Spirit could come (John 7: 
39) and thus the reign of God could begin in the 
human heart, which is ‘‘the Kingdom of God 
within’’ (Luke 17:20, 21; Rom. 14:17). And then 
Jesus reproved the disciples for their unbelief. ‘‘O 
foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that 
the prophets have spoken. Behooved it not the 
Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His 


[239] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


glory?’’ (Luke 24:25-27, 44-47). He probably re- 
ferred to Is. 53 and Ps. 22 and to every sacrificial 
lamb that had been slain from Abel down. With- 
out the cross of Christ there could be no kingdom. 
Jesus never offered a kingdom to the Jews. He and 
John and the twelve declared that the Kingdom of 
heaven was at hand. It was not an offer, but a 
declaration, and His rejection and crucifixion were 
to form a very important part in the ushering in of 
this kingdom of God. 


KINGDOM Not PosTPONED BUT RECEIVED 


There was nothing postponed. The Gospel had 
first to be made a reality (I Cor. 15:3, 4) before the 
children of the kingdom could be born (John 3:3-5). 
The Word had to be preached as the seed of the 
kingdom (Matt. 13:19, ete.,) before the Nobleman 
could receive His kingdom. This is the work of His 
servants, the church during this age until the king- 
dom is received and then He returns to give His 
awards and to destroy the Antichrist (Luke 19:11- 
27). The kingdom during this dispensation is neces- 
sarily in the form of a church—‘‘A ealled out as- 
sembly’’ (Rotherham). It is hidden, ‘‘cometh not 
with observation,’’ but ‘‘the kingdom of God is 
within you,’’ says Jesus (Luke 17:20, 21; cf., Rom. 
14:17). 

But some day it will flash forth when the citizens 
of the kingdom receive their glorified bodies like 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


that of Jesus (Col. 3:4; Phil. 3:20, 21; I John 8:2; 
Heb. 9:27, 28; I Pet. 1:5). Then there will be the 
visible, spiritual kingdom of Christ upon this earth. 
But it will not be the body that is sown, ‘‘but God 
giveth it a body even as it pleased Him and to each 
seed a body of its own’’ (I Cor. 15:36-38). All the 
saved “‘that are fallen asleep in Jesus,’’ who like 
Paul are ‘‘absent from the body but are at home 
with the Lord’’ (II Cor. 5:6-8), ‘‘will God bring 
with Him’’ (I Thess. 4:14) to receive their resur- 
rected glorified bodies when He comes with Jesus to 
appear in the clouds, where the saints are caught up 
‘‘to meet the Lord in the air’’ (vs. 17; Matt. 26:64, 
Rev. 6:16, 17). All the then living saints ‘‘shall be 
changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye’’ 
(I Cor. 15:51) for our living bodies have the seeds 
of death within them, and ‘‘shall together with them 
(the resurrected saints) be caught up in the clouds”’ 
(I Thess. 4:17) to appear before the throne as is de- 
seribed in Rev. 7 :9-14-17, that they may come with 
Christ to reign with Him in the earth, as is described 
in Rev. 19:11-20:1-6. 


MILLENNIAL KINGDOM 


Therefore it cannot be the Jewish kingdom nor at 
‘‘the Jerusalem that now is’’ ‘‘But the Jerusalem 
that is above is free’’ (Gal. 4:25). John saw it com- 
ing down out of heaven from God, having the glory 
of God (Rev. 21:10). It is in the form of a cube, 


[241] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


viz., fifteen hundred miles square and fifteen hun- 
dred miles high. Palestine is too small for this 
glorious kingdom. Paul said in his allegory that it 
was above and was the New Covenant, which is com- 
posed of Gentiles as well as Jews (Gal. 4:24-31). It 
is now above ‘“‘for our citizenship is in heaven, 
whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus 
Christ: who shall fashion anew the body of our 
humiliation that it may be conformed to the body 
of His Glory’’ (Phil. 3:20, 21). With these spiritual 
olorified bodies we can ascend to our mansion fifteen 
hundred miles high as well as fifteen hundred miles 
out. Gravitation will hold us no longer to this 
earth, but we can ascend as did our Saviour. The 
Jews will return to Palestine and under God as ‘‘the 
Ancient of days’’ will be greatly prospered; but 
their lasting glory will be in coming into this ‘‘New 
Jerusalem’’ whose gates are never closed, and be- 
coming the true Israel with the Gentiles, by accept- 
ing Christ as their Saviour and King (Gal. 3:28, 29; 
Rom. 2:28, 29; Phil. 3:3; John 14:6). 


[242] 


CHAPTER XXIV 
Dates and Vagaries of the I. B.S. A. 


NE great cause for the existing prejudice 

against the truth of our Lord’s return is in set- 
ting wrong dates for the coming in of the visible 
kingdom of God. From Wm. Miller with his date 
1844 A. D. to the latest of the I. B.S. A. for 1925, so 
many false dates have been set that it has become 
a matter of ridicule. In this, there is no greater 
offender than Pastor Russell, unless it be the 
I. B. 8S. A., (The International Bible Students’ As- 
sociation). His great outstanding date has been 
1874 A. D. which he claims is the end of the 6000 
years from the creation of man. To get this he con- 
structed a chronology of his own, which differs from 
all others, which we have seen. Bishop Usher places 
the end of the 6000 years to be about 2000 A. D. 
while Philip Mauro and Dr. Anstey place it at 1955 
A. D. So we see that Pastor Russell’s date of 1874 
is very uncertain and is worthless as well. Bible 
Chronology is remarkable and reliable, yet no one 
should claim infallibility for his dates. 


Dares or 1874-1878-1914 A. D. 
When Jesus did not come in 1874 then Pastor Rus- 
sell added three and a half years, which made it 


[243] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


A. D. 1878. He not only named this year for Christ 
to come and set up His kingdom, but, to the author’s 
own knowledge, he set the month and the day. He 
yet indorses this date, viz., ‘‘Power and Title of King 
assumed, three and a half years later in A. D. 1878”’ 
(page 247 in ‘‘Time is at Hand,’’ from which book 
we quote, unless otherwise stated). But when the 
Christ did not come in 1874 when he was due, and 
then failed to appear in 1878, Pastor Russell had to 
find another date. So he went back to 1874 and 
added forty years for harvest time and by maneuver- 
ing his cycles he made the date A. D. 1914, when the 
‘‘Times of the Gentiles would end in the entire de- 
struction of nominal Christendom’’ (page 247). He 
also says on page 99, ‘‘ We consider it an established 
truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this 
world, and the full establishment of the kingdom of 
God will be accomplished at the end of A. D. 1914.”’ 


Wrone Date or 1914 


Let us look at his table on page 247. Here we have 
his summary. ‘‘Advent movement in 1844; actual 
presence of the Lord as Bridegroom and Reaper Oct., 
A. D. 1874; power and title of King assumed three 
and a half years later A. D. 1878; entire destruction 
of nominal Christendom A. D. 1914.’’ Now Pastor 
Russell did not predict that a universal war would 
commence in 1914, as his followers claim, but that 
the Gentile nations would end at that date and 


[244] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


Christ’s kingdom be fully established. This is clearly 
shown in many statements like the following: ‘‘That 
the Times of the Gentiles will run fully out with the 
year A. D. 1914, and that at that time, they will all 
be overturned and Christ’s Kingdom fully estab- 
lished’’ (page 170). ‘‘That the setting up of the 
kingdom of God is already begun (1868), that it is 
pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise 
of power in A. D. 1878, and that the ‘battle of the 
ereat day of God Almighty’ (Rev. 16:14), which 
will end in A. D. 1914 with the complete overthrow 
of earth’s present rulership is already commenced’’ 
(page 101). In his table on page 219 he has the ‘‘fall 
of Babylon’’ at 1881 which is followed by ‘‘Days of 
vengeance,’’ which is followed by ‘‘A time of 
Trouble such as was not since there was a nation’’ 
and all closing by 1915 A. D. Note, it does not say 
that this was to begin in 1914 or 1915 but was to be- 
gin in 1881 and end at the close of 1914 A. D. And 
this is the program all through this book. But the 
world was never more tranquil than it was from 
1881 to 1914. Lectures were being delivered all over 
the earth that the time of peace had come and there 
would be no more war until the world war cloud 
burst in 1914 A.D. But instead of the kingdom of 
God and the coming of the Prince of peace in 1914 
A. D., it was the god of war who came attended by 
all his terrors and destruction. And now in 1925, 
when the whole world is moving toward a nominal 


[245] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


peace, the followers of Pastor Russell, like C. H. 
Stewart are still announcing with startling headlines, 
‘‘All nations are Marching to ARMAGEDDON.”’ 
But Pastor Russell said this battle was to close 
eleven years ago. All of these announcements throw 
into the limbo all of Pastor Russell’s dates and pre- 
dictions. ‘‘The Times of the Gentiles’’ did not end, 
nor was Christ’s kingdom set up in 1914 A. D., if this 
announcement is true. 


DATES AND VAGARIES OF I. B. S. A.—A. D. 1918 


But here is another date (1918) that we have 
safely passed without even knowing of its direful 
predictions. Basing his comments upon Ezekiel 24: 
20, 21 the writer says in ‘‘Finished Mystery’’ (page 
484), ‘‘It was as a picture or parable of what is to 
happen to Christendom. Until 1878 the nominal 
church had been in a sense God’s sanctuary or Tem- 
ple; but He was from then on, culminating in 1918, 
to remove it with a stroke or plague of erroneous 
doctrines and deeds Divinely permitted.’’ ‘‘And 
the children of the church shall perish by the sword 
of war, revolution and anarchy.’’ Whether he means 
this first part in a spiritual or literal sense makes no 
difference for it has utterly failed as a prediction. 
Remember this was written about the time that the 
United States entered the world war. On page 485 
we find another, ‘‘Also in the year 1918, when God 
destroys the churches wholesale and the church 


[246] 


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members by the millions, it shall be that any that 
escape shall come to the works of Pastor Russell to 
learn the meaning of the downfall of ‘Christianity’.’’ 
Note this was written at least eight years ago and 
was to be fulfilled in 1918. We have all been so 
dumb, that we did not know even when the catas- 
trophe occurred. But we ‘‘who escaped,’’ see that 
instead of this direful calamity happening in 1918, 
the world war ended and the nations were forming 
a covenant for universal peace. But as we read on 
in this ‘‘Post-Humous work of Pastor Russell’’ (see 
title page) the wonders increase. The text is Eze- 
kiel 33:21 (page 530) and the heading is ‘‘ Pastor 
Russell heard again.’’ 

‘On that momentous day came the tidings ‘The 
city is smitten.’ Pastor Russell’s voice was stilled in 
death on Oct. 31, 1916. If an application of Eze- 
kiel’s period of dumbness is valid here as a time fea- 
ture, the tidings, the realization that Christendom 
is smitten by the onslaughts of revolution, might be 
expected to flash throughout the world on or about 
April 27, 1918, a year, five months and twenty-six 
days after the death of God’s great watchman’’ (Pas- 
tor Russell). It is very certain from this and kin- 
dred statements that this writer, indorsed by the 
International Bible Students’ Association, predicted 
that at a definite time, April 27, 1918, there would be 
the overthrow of entire Christendom and the “‘little 
Flock,’’ the I. B. S. A., would be glorified. On page 


[247] 


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64 he speaks of ‘‘The glorification of ‘The little 
Flock’ in the Spring of 1918,’’ ete. But he says 
farther, ‘‘As in Ezekiel 24:27 this would be a sign, 
an indication to Christendom of the truth of Pastor 
Russell’s commission from the Almighty’’ (page 530). 

Well if this ‘‘is a sign to Christendom of the truth 
of Pastor Russell’s commission from the Almighty,’’ 
then as the sign is an immense failure, so the com- 
mission must be a colossal delusion. ‘‘God’s great 
Watchman’’ has gone down from his tower and his 
followers have learned nothing by his mistakes. They 
predicted a terrible catastrophe to occur in 1918, 
which turned out in the nations signing a world 
Peace Pact, while Pastor Russell predicted a reign 
of peace after 1914, when there came a four years 
World War. It has proven to be just the opposite 
in each ease. 


CHRIST’s SPIRITUAL COMING 


When 1874 and 1878 passed by and no Christ nor 
kingdom appeared, then it came to Pastor Russell 
that Christ must have already come for his dates had 
arrived and they could not be wrong. So he said 
that Christ had come but was invisible. The only 
luminary that was visible was Pastor Russell him- 
self and his teaching; and from his ‘‘ Watch tower’”’ 
poured forth volumes of literature. It is very evi- 
dent that he thought that Christ’s ‘‘invisible pres- 
ence’? was to be manifested through him, His 


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prophet or mouth-piece. As the invisible presence 
of Christ has been with His church since Pentecost, 
when the Holy Spirit came (Matt. 28:20; John 14: 
21), what more has happened since 1874, but the © 
presence of Pastor Russell. So the Scriptures had to 
be twisted to suit this new theory. Even the Light- 
ning that ‘‘cometh forth from the East and is seen 
even unto the West’’ is made to mean, ‘‘As the 
bright shining (of truth) emerges from the east and 
iUluminates even unto the west.’’ The context makes 
it certain that when Jesus used this simile of the 
lightning flashing forth, that He was expressing in 
the strongest way just the opposite of Pastor Rus- 
sell’s teaching. 


CHRIST’S PRESENCE VISIBLE 


Jesus says, ‘‘If they shall say unto you ‘behold he 
is in the wilderness’; go not forth.’’ Do not even go 
to see. If they say, ‘‘Behold he is in the inner cham- 
ber (that is, He is present but you cannot see Him; 
He has come, but He is hidden ‘‘in the inner cham- 
ber’’; ‘‘Christ’s Power and Title of King was as- 
sumed in A. D. 1878,’ but it was invisibly done ‘‘in 
the inner chamber’’) ‘‘BELIEVE IT NOT,’’ says 
Jesus. ‘‘For as the lightning cometh forth from the 
east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the 
coming of the Son of man’’ (Matt. 24:26, 27). If 
the lightning shines ‘‘forth in the east you can see 
it unto the west.’’ It cannot be hidden for the whole 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


heaven is aglow with its flash. Jesus could not ex- 
press more strongly that His Coming was to be vis- 
ible; so plain that all would see and know. Do not 
follow any healing cult like ‘‘Christian Science’’ off 
into the wilderness; do not go peeking into the inner 
chamber for an invisible Christ; for if you can see 
the lightning when it flashes you will know when my 
glorious presence is manifested. 


PAROUSIA-PRESENCE 


The Greek word Parousia does mean ‘‘Presence.’’ 
It means that the person has come and is now pres- 
ent to be seen and not to be invisible as he was when 
he was absent. It is a strong word that is used to 
distinguish Christ’s Visible presence from His invis- 
ible presence which has existed since Pentecost. The 
invisible kingdom, that Jesus said ‘‘is within you’’ 
and ‘‘comes not with observation’’ (Luke 17 :20, 21) 
came with power at Pentecost 30 A.D. by the com- 
ing of the Holy Spirit to dwell and reign ‘‘within’’; 
which is the reign of God in the heart. Jesus came 
at Pentecost in the power of His advocate, as He 
promised in the Great Commission ‘‘Lo, I am with 
you always even unto the end of the age’’ (Matt. 28: 
20). But after the end of this Gospel age, through 
which time He has been invisibly present, He will 
‘‘gome in great glory and power’’ to be Visibly 
Present which is His ‘‘Parousia.’’ It is this glorious 
Visible PRESENCH, when ‘‘we shall see Him as HE 


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IS”’ that is expressed in the word Parousia, which is 
never used to express His invisible presence. So, 
brethren of the I. B. 8. A., the invisible presence of 
Christ did not begin in 1874 A. D. 


Pastor RuSSELL’s VAGARIES 


We have no desire to follow Pastor Russell into 
all of his vagaries and twistings of the plain word 
of God in order that he may explain away these 
verses that so clearly destroy his theory that Christ 
has already come in His Parousia. Take for example 
where he tries to evade the force of Paul’s statement 
in I Thess. 4:16: ‘‘The Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout.’’ He says that this only 
means ‘‘the shout of encouragement’’ to help the 
people ‘‘who for the past fifteen years have risen up 
to exert their rights’’ ete., (page 146). Well, a shout 
that lasts fifteen to forty years is SOME Shout. It 
is sickening to see such a ‘‘wresting of the Serip- 
tures’’ to maintain a wrong theory. 

When Jesus says, ‘‘Fear not, little Flock’’ why 
should the I. B. S. A., think that Christ’s disciples 
should always be a little flock?’’ If a queen would 
- gay to her son, ‘‘Don’t ery, little boy, for some day 
you will be a king’’; would it not sound foolish for 
her to still call him ‘‘little boy’’ after he wears a 
erown as king ‘The number of the flock that John 
saw following the shepherd before the throne is so 
creat that ‘‘no man could number them”’ (Rev. 7: 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


9, 17). They are more than the myriad of angels 
who could be numbered (Rev. 5:11). Then again, 
would it not be better to change the watch-cry from 
‘‘Milhons now living shall never die’’ into ‘‘Mil- 
lions now dead spiritually’’ we will try to make alive 
by preaching with all of our might the glorious Gos- 
pel of Christ which is God’s power to save? (Rom. 
1:16; 1 Cor; 15:3, 4). 


THE FINISHED MysTEerRy 


This volume of about 600 pages, dated 1917, is 
published by the International Bible Students’ As- 
sociation as the seventh volume, thus completing the 
series. It is called the ‘‘Post-Humous (after death) 
work of Pastor Russell.’’ It consists of running 
comments upon the books of Revelation, Ezekiel, ete. 
From this book we took ‘‘Nahum’s Railway,’’ ‘‘ Birth 
of the Antichrist,’’ which we noticed in the previous 
chapter. It says the seven great messengers to the 
churches as the stars in Christ’s hand (Rev. 1:16, 20) 
have been ‘“‘St. Paul, St. John, Arius, Waldo, Wy- 
eliffe, Luther and Pastor Russell.’’ ‘‘The special 
messenger to the last age of the church was Charles 
T. Russell’’ (page 53). It also states that ‘‘Pastor 
Russell is a member of the great High Priest and as 
Christ’s representative in the world, the sole steward 
of the ‘meat, in due season’ (page 483). We will let 
the I. B. 8. A., thresh out with the pope who is to 
be the sole steward and Christ’s Representatwe in 


[252] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


the World.” It says the ‘‘prophet Ezekiel types 
this servant’’ (page 867) who is the sole steward 
(Matt. 24:44-47). So all through Ezekiel’s prophecy 
he is used as a type of Pastor Russell. In Rev. 7:2 
when the angel, who, he says, is Christ, ‘‘eries with 
a loud voice’’ ‘‘Pastor Russell was the voice used.”’ 
He is ‘‘One of the noblest, grandest characters of all 
history.’’ ‘‘He towers like a giant unmatched”’ 
(page 125). 

Not only is Pastor Russell unduly exalted all 
through this book, but the I. B. 8. A., comes in for 
its share. In Rev. 5:10 ‘‘Kingdom and priests’’ has 
this comment. ‘‘The kingdom elass proper will con- 
sist only of our Lord and His ‘elect’ Little flock’’ 
(page 102). This is quoted from Pastor Russell. 
‘‘The glorification of the ‘Little flock’ in the spring of 
1918 A. D.,’’ (page 64) must have been done invisibly, 
like all the other predictions for they are never seen. 
Pastor Russell’s ‘‘Little Flock’’ consists of the 
I. B. 8S. A. only for there are only two classes: ‘‘ Those 
in Present Truth and those who are out of it’’ (page 
419). 


CHANGING OF DATES 


In this book there is a readjustment of dates. 1878 
becomes the great year and by adding forty years, 
it brings 1918 A. D., to be the time for ‘‘The entire 
destruction of nominal Christendom, 40 years after 
the beginning of the harvest (1878), which brings 


[253] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


1918’’ (fly leaf at end). This is an entire change as 
seen by the following. ‘‘Re-examine the table (which 
is Pastor Russell’s) Vol. 2 pages 246, 247; change the 
37 to 40, 70 to 738 and 1914 to 1918, and we believe it 
is correct and will be fulfilled ‘with great power and 
glory’ (Mk..138:26).’’ So in this book, 1918 A.D.,, 
and not 1914 is the great date for the destruction 
of Christendom and the glorification of the ‘‘Little 
Flock,’’ the I. B. 8. A.’’ It was to be done ‘‘ With 
great power and glory’’ (Mk. 13:26). 


THe I. B.S. A. Has no MEssace 


Hear this startling statement: ‘‘The Spring of 
1918 will bring upon Christendom a spasm of an- 
guish greater even than that experienced in the Fall 
of 1914’’ (page 62). 

Why is it that such a startling statement as the 
above with others even more so, fell upon ears so 
dull, that it was almost unknown that the predictions 
were made. And yet when a few score of deluded 
Adventists, recently set Feb. 6, 1925 as the time of 
Christ’s advent, the Dailies with startling headlines 
proclaimed the news from coast to coast giving the 
pictures of the simple hearted expectants. The rea- 
son is that the I. B. S. A. has no message that the 
people will receive. It has cried ‘‘Wolf! Wolf!’’ 
so long and so loud as a false alarm, that no one pays 
any attention to their startling subjects. Their 
speeches continue to be so full of doleful pictures 


[254] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


and dire calamities that they have a tendency to 
produce the very trouble they predict. These very 
speeches are however the best evidence of the utter 
falsity of their predictions, viz., that seven to eleven 
years ago Christendom was to be destroyed, and the 
kingdom of Christ set up, and the I. B. 8. A.—the 
Pastor’s ‘‘Little Flock’’—was to be glorified and 
that was to be done with great power and glory.’” 
‘Quo Vadis?’’ 


[255] 


CHAPTER XXV 


‘“Maillions Now Living Will Never 
Die” 


HEN one goes through Pastor Russell’s mass 
\ \ of dates, and studies the reckless figures of 
the ‘‘Finished Mystery’’ and those of Judge Ruther- 
ford, he is reminded of the Millerite preacher in the 
‘‘Hoosier Schoolmaster’’ who could take any set of 
figures you might give him, and by adding or sub- 
tracting, he never failed to produce A. D. 1844. Why 
does Pastor Russell use seventy jubilees in his jubilee 
eycles? Because the captivity lasted seventy years 
is no reason whatever. ‘‘The land was to enjoy its 
sabbaths for seventy years’’ and not for seventy 
jubilees (II Chron. 86:21). Where is there a hint 
in the Bible about any jubilee of jubilees? The set 
days and years of Jehovah had their limit in the 
fiftieth year, which was the year of jubilee, and there 
is not a hint for any further time of reckoning. The 
only apparent reason for all these assumptions is 
that Pastor Russell must get his figures 1874. But 
nothing happened in 1874, but Pastor Russell and 
this date has now been abandoned by his followers 
for the year 1878. 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


JuDGE RuTHERFORD’S Date 1925 


Now we ask the same question of Judge Ruther- 
ford. What right has he to take these same seventy 
jubilees, of which the Bible says nothing, in order 
that he may get his figures for 1925? (Pages 87, 88, 
‘*Millions now living will never die!) By what au- 
thority does he make the following statement, 
‘‘Other Scriptures show that there were to be sev- 
enty jubilees kept’’ (Jer. 25:11; II Chron. 36:17-21). 
Now he must certainly know that these verses say 
no such thing, nor teach any such thing. In each 
one of these quotations, and also, in Dan. 9:2, it says 
years and not jubilees. It says ‘‘until the land had 
enjoyed its sabbaths: to fulfill three score and ten 
years.”’ There could be ten sabbatical years and 
possibly two Jubilees but no more during that period, 
while the land was desolate. ‘‘Seven’’ was the mul- 
tiple and not seventy nor fifty. Then why does not 
the Judge begin at the time when the land became 
desolate to count his 8500 years. This would be the 
logical place; but it would land him into 2900 A. D., is 
the reason. Then how is it that the Judge makes 
seventy jubilees to be 3500 years, while Pastor Rus- 
sell, ‘‘the sole steward,’’ makes these same seventy 
to be only 3449 years? Then again, why is it that 
Pastor Russell beginning at the same place makes 
the seventy jubilees end at 1874 A.D., while the 


[257] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


Judge makes them end in 1925? This is much like 
the preacher in the ‘‘Hoosier Schoolmaster.’’ The 
fact is that both of them begin at the wrong date and 
work on a wrong principle and produce dates that 
have been proven to be utterly false; and this one of 
Judge Rutherford for this autumn of 1925 will add 
another fizzle to their long list. Already they have 
to their discredit A.D. 1874, 1878, 1914 and 1918 and 
the next one to follow will be 1925 A.D. Note that 
each one of these dates have been solemnly set by 
them for the return of Christ to reign, while the last 
three predict the entire overthrow of Christendom 
and the full establishment of the kingdom of Christ 
on earth. Oh that some serum may be found to cure 
these zealous people of their malady of ‘‘Date- 
setting.’’ 


ABRAHAM AND ISAAC RerurN TO EARTH 


Let us notice the latest date and prediction given 
by Judge Rutherford upon whom has fallen the 
mantle of Pastor Russell. In his pamphlet, ‘‘ Mil- 
hons now living will never die,’’ on page 88 he says, 
‘“We may expect 1925 to witness the return of these 
faithful men of Israel (Abraham, Isaae and Jacob) 
from the condition of death, being resurrected and 
fully restored to perfect humanity and made the 
visible, legal representatives of the new order of 
things on the earth.’’ On page 89 he further states: 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


‘‘Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will 
mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the 
faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by 
the Apostle in Hebrews chapter eleven, to the con- 
dition of human perfection.’’ ‘‘These constitute the 
princes or rulers in the earth.’’ Now all this is to 
occur within six months—KFall of 1925—and it pre- 
dicts the entire overthrow of the present order of 
things and the establishing of the kingdom of God 
with Abraham et. al., as princes and rulers of the 
earth. Not only are the adherents of this faith ex- 
pecting the return of the heroes of Heb. 11:1-40, but 
that their own loved ones will return and they are 
_ getting their rooms ready for occupancy. But we 
have no confidence in the prediction. It is built upon 
a wrong basis. There will be no appearing of Abra- 
ham, ete., until Christ appears in glory. That is the 
next great event. ‘‘When Christ who is our life 
shall be manifested then shall ye also with Him be 
manifested in glory’’ (Col. 3:4). We leave Judge 
Rutherford with his date and prediction. The only 
certain thing about the time of our Lord’s Return 
is given in Matt. 25:13, ‘‘Ye know not the day nor 
the hour!’’ ‘‘ Watch ye therefore!’’ 

We have only the kindest feelings toward the 
I. B.S. A. We have written plainly for their good, 
for they run along lines almost parallel with great 
events that are clear fulfillments of prophecy. The 


[259] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


‘‘seven times’’ of Dan. 4:32; Lev. 26:18, 21, 24, 28, 
are legitimate, but the 2520 years are fulfilled in 
two periods. About 606 B. C. was the beginning of 
the transfer of rule from the Jews to the Gentile 
powers. So the world war, beginning in 1914 A. D., 
which was the end of the 2520 years, brought forth 
the promise of the larger nations for the restoration 
of the Jews to their home land. But it was not until 
586 B.C. (Jer. 52:12), that Jerusalem was wholly 
destroyed, when the rule passed completely to the 
Gentiles. So in adding the 2520 years to 586 B.C., 
we have about 1934 A. D., when the Jews should be 
fully restored to Palestine and ‘‘The Times of the 
Gentiles’’ will fully end. On August Ist, 1914, the 
very day the World War began, the Jews in Europe 
were commemorating the twenty-fifth hundred an- 
niversary of the destruction of Jerusalem. Add 
twenty years and you have 1934 A. D. But even 
these dates do not set the time of Christ’s return. 
One great cause of the numerous mistakes in the 
teaching of the I. B. S. A., has been their wrong 
dates. To maintain the date of 1874 and 1878 they 
adopted the erroneous position of the invisible 
presence of Christ. To do this they explained 
away I Thess. 4:16-17; Acts 1:11; Matt. 24:27, 30, 
ete., and kindred passages, so as these the strongest 
proof texts were made useless they never quote them 
to prove the second coming of Christ. Then the 


[260] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


running comments on Ezekiel, Revelations, ete., in 
‘‘The Finished Mystery,’’ are nothing but the er- 
roneous views of the author expressed. Such methods 
are worthless to obtain a proper exegesis or interpre- 
tation of God’s word. 


[261] 


CHAPTER XXVI 


Universal Peace Before Antichrist 


NSTEAD of the entire destruction of nominal 

Christendom in 1918 A. D. it was the year when 
the war ceased and a world Peace Pact was signed 
and since which time the nations have been moving 
toward universal peace. The elections in England, 
France, the United States and now in Germany fore- 
east a stability of governments; that augurs, for a 
time at least, a condition in the world, that is the 
opposite of that, which many prophetic students have 
been predicting. Excitable France needs to think 
again before she gives vent to any more verbal ex- 
plosives. The last man in Germany that would start 
another war, is the old Warrior, who knows what a 
tremendous task it is to prepare, equip, and carry 
through to a successful issue a world war. He realizes 
that when defeat came after decades of intensive 
preparation, what hope would there now be of success 
in Germany’s present helplessness. It could only 
result in another exchange of Elba for St. Helena. 


GERMANY AGAIN PROSTESTANT 


No German knows better than Von Hindenburg, 
that the great need for the ‘‘ Vaterland’’ at this hour, 


[262] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


is to win respect and confidence of the nations among 
whom she hopes to rise to a place of honor. The 
ambition that his election has aroused can only be 
satisfied in Industrial supremacy; so his slogan is 
‘*Kiverybody to work.’’ If her place of honor is to be 
attained it must be by Germany assuming heroically 
her obligations. The Allies would have had much 
more reason for fear had a Communist or even a 
Catholic been elected. The old Protestant Marshall 
put God back into the oath that he took, which ex- 
president Ebert had omitted. Hoch Von Hinden- 
burg! Let us hope that he may be as impervious to 
the influences of the Vatican as he is to the Soviet of 
Russia. Better to have no experience in civil affairs, 
than to be like those before him, using what diplomatic 
skill they had to evade doing the very things that were 
needed. We must not forget that fifty years ago, 
before she was seized by an infidel and bellicose spirit 
that brought ruin to her greatness, Germany was one 
of the strongest Protestant nations on the earth. 


A UNIVERSAL GOVERNMENT 


Let us remember that the eighth head (‘‘The Beast 
Rev. 17:8, 11) is to bear sway over all the earth (Rev. 
13:7). Though not in equal force, yet its authority is 
to be admitted by all nations (Rev. 17: 12,13). Such 
a government can never be attained by conquest. It 
has been attempted many times but has always failed, 
of which Napoleon and the late world war are ex- 


[263] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


amples. This is an age of Democracy. The people 
rule; either under a king with limited powers like 
Great Britain, or under a President, who is a real 
head, like the Republic of the United States, or even 
under dictators permitted by the governed, like Italy 
and Spain and also in Russia. These governments are 
described by ‘‘the feet and toes, part of potter’s clay 
(Democracy) and part of iron (Rome)’’ (Dan. 2:33, 
41-43) ; and also by the ‘‘little horn, having eyes like 
the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things’’ 
(Dan. 7:8). That is, it is humane, intelligent and 
yet ‘‘speaks with Great Authority’’—a Republic with 
iron in it (Rev. 13:2, 5). Now a Universal govern- 
ment that would include all of these; iron-clay Repub- 
lics and Democracies, etc., can be possible only as 
described in Rev. 17:18. ‘‘These have one mind and 
they give their power and authority unto the beast.’’ 
These will constitute a Federation of governments 
spoken of as “‘ten horns’’ or government (Rev. 17: 
12), who with the beast, or as the Beast’s executives 
will destroy the Harlot (Rev. 17:16, 17) and will 
‘‘war against the Lamb’’ (17:14; 19:14, 19). 


COMPOSITION OF THE BRAST 


As we have shown in Chapter three, Autocracy has 
been superseded by Democracy. The iron in the feet 
and toes is being covered by the clay, so the last 
government is ‘‘partly strong and partly broken’’ 
(brittle). The clay-extreme democracy-like Russia 


[264] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


under Kerensky, cannot govern itself; so ‘‘the iron 
(Rome)’’ mingles with the clay to give it strength. 
It ‘‘mixes with the miry clay.’’ The miry clay will 
stick some to the iron, but they will not amalgamate. 
So the governments of these ten federated kingdoms 
will be restless and unsatisfactory, and yet like Russia, 
Italy and Spain, ete., they will not know how to 
change. They know a dictatorship is wrong and yet 
they dare not violently throw it off for they fear 
anarchy more, so they endure. ‘‘They (iron-Rome) 
shall mingle themselves with the seed of men.’’ That 
is, ‘‘the seed of men’’ is the universal democratic 
spirit that pervades the earth; but they do not adhere 
‘‘as iron doth not mingle with clay’’ (Dan. 2:34, 41, 
43). More and more will Democracies permit the iron 
to come in, and probably Germany may grant more 
power to her President than he has at present or may 
change to a limited monarchy. The great controlling 
idea, however, will be to glorify man. The very num- 
ber and name of this last government is 666 which ‘‘is 
the number of Man’’—Mankind (Rev. 13:18). The 
source of its authority and power will be within itself 
and Satan and not in God. Like the Modernist in 
religion, whose source of authority is in his ‘‘Inner 
Consciousness’’ and not in the Bible. Its blasphemy 
at first, will consist in its boastfulness over the past, 
when men believed in a Personal God and worshipped 
Him, as revealed in His Word, as Creator, Preserver 
and Redeemer of men. 


[265] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


THE LEAGUE oF NATIONS AND PEACE 


We have been describing the government as it will 
exist at the close of the seventh head, which we eall 
the League of Nations. The angel in Rev. 17:7-17 
describes how this last government—the eighth— 
which is the Beast of Rev. 13 :1-7, came to its maturity. 
Then it absorbs the last three heads viz. the French 
Revolution, Napoleonic empire, The Central Powers 
and the League of Nations (Dan. 7:8, 20; Rev. 17:11) 
and becomes the eighth universal government. It 
then becomes the ‘‘Lawless, Blasphemous’’ govern- 
ment with the False Prophet (II Thess. 2:1-8; Rey. 
13:1-17 ete.). The coming of the Proletariat govern- 
ment of the French Revolution under the control of 
Napoleon; and of the free states of Germany under 
the reign of the Kaisers, presage what may come to 
the world under the League of Nations, when the 
Proletariat—‘‘the clay’’—unites with the ‘‘iron’’ 
and forms the Antichrist and Satan unites all of these 
heads into one government—‘‘The Beast.’’ But dur- 
ing the rule of the League of Nations, there will be 
universal peace; for Christ comes just before the 
reign of the Antichrist, to take out His church, and 
that is the time ‘‘when they are saying Peace and 
Safety’’ (I Thess. 5:2, 3). And this is the ery that 
has already commenced and will not let up until 
nominal peace comes. ‘‘Safety First’’ is a motto 
Seen everywhere and safety meetings are prevalent. 


[266] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


The idea of safety will bring peace. When the people, 
who rule, realize what an ‘‘Air Raid’’ means, when 
ponderous planes are loaded with terrible explosives, 
wars will cease. Peace will come, not so much on 
altruistic principles as in exercising some ‘‘horse 
sense’’ for safety. ‘‘Peace and Safety’’ is the ery 
everywhere and it will grow louder as we get out 
from under the benumbing ‘‘gasses’’ of the world war. 


THe First FIvE SEALS 


When Jesus takes the book out of the hand of the 
Father (Rev. 5:1, 7), who alone has ‘‘the times and 
seasons set within His own authority’’ (Acts 1:7; Mk. 
18:32) ; He proceeds to open the seals which unfold 
the stages whereby His reign is to be inaugurated 
upon the earth. It is a moment of such tremendous 
significance that all heavenly beings and every created 
thing on earth and sea burst forth into such glorious 
praise that in extent and intensity there is nothing to 
equal it in the Bible or out of it (Rev. 5:8-14). Why 
is this great commotion? Because John is about to 
receive some information? Who can believe it? The 
only adequate cause is that Jesus is about to begin His 
reign of Righteousness upon this earth. And it is no 
wonder that every created thing in heaven, earth and 
sea bursts forth into such mighty volumes of praise 
seeing that ‘‘the whole creation, groaning and tra- 
vailing in pain together until now, is about to be 
delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 


[267] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


liberty of the glory of the children of God’’ (Rom. 
8:21, 23). 

1. The opening of the first seal (Rev. 6:2) reveals 
a White horse. In Rev. 19:11, 14, we find that the 
white horse represents Jesus and his army, and in 
Matt. 24:14 we find that the evangelization of the 
world brings the ends So the white horse represents 
the great movements of the Holy Spirit at home and 
in World Evangelization. This is seen in the great 
missionary movements of this generation. 

2. The opening of the second seal (Rev. 6:4) re- 
veals a Red horse. ‘‘The great sword,’’ to ‘‘Slay one 
another;’’ and ‘‘to take peace from the earth’’ de- 
seribes the late world war. 

3. This seal (Rev. 6:5,6) reveals a Black horse, 
whose rider ‘‘had a balance in his hand’’ weighing 
out ‘‘wheat and barley,’’ making ‘‘war bread.’’ It 
denotes the world’s conservation of food for ‘‘the 
fourth part of the earth’’ (vs. 8). It was much in 
evidence in 1917-1918 A. D. in ‘‘meatless, wheatless,’’ 
ete., days. 

4. The fourth seal brings out ‘‘A Pale Horse’’ 
whose rider’s ‘‘name is Death’’ (vs. 8). This word 
‘death is called ‘‘Pestilence’’ in the margin. This horse 
appeared in 1918 and more people died of the ‘‘ Flu’’ 
in five months than were killed in the four years of 
war. 

5. But in this same eighth verse we read ‘‘And 
there was given unto them authority over the fourth 


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part of the earth, to kill with the sword and with 
famine and with death (pestilence). It was just one- 
fourth part of the earth, Europe and Russian and 
Turkish Asia, where the battles of the world war were 
fought, and also where the famine and pestilence pre- 
vailed and still prevails. While the whole world was 
affected yet these scourges were confined to one- 
fourth part of the earth. Note, that these three seals 
being placed together as taking effect in one-fourth 
part of the earth localizes them to a brief space of 
time. 


Firre SEAL DifFERENT F'Rom OTHERS 


Now after these four seals were opened, which have 
already been fulfilled, we come to the fifth seal (Rev. 
6:9-11) under which we are at the present time. This 
seal differs from the others and also from those that 
follow. There are no scourges coming on the earth, 
as under the second, third and fourth seals, nor the 
earthquakes and commotions in the heavens and times 
of terror that occur under the sixth. It seems to be a 
respite—a breathing spell before the storm breaks. 
It concerns only the. martyrs, who are in heaven. 
Their blood had been poured out for their testimony, 
and they probably know that Jesus had taken the 
book out of the Father’s hand and was preparing the 
earth and its people for His coming reign. When 
there comes a lull in the process their impatience is 
shown in their cry ‘‘ How long, O Master, the Holy 


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and True, does thou not judge and avenge our blood 
on them that dwell on the earth’’ (vs. 10). This is 
not a ery for revenge, but the same ery as that of the 
widow in Luke 18:1-8, a ery for the righting of 
wrongs. Jesus seems to have this scene before Him as 
He says: 

‘‘Shall not God avenge his elect, that ery unto Him 
day and night, and yet He is long suffering over 
them? I say unto you that he will avenge them 
speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh 
shall He find faith on the earth?’’ (Luke 18:1). 


OnLY A Larruz Timp 


Here Jesus alludes to His coming again. But.as 
the time was not due for the signs in the heavens to 
appear, which accompany Christ’s ‘‘coming on the 
clouds;’’ ‘‘there was given them to each one a white 
robe; and it was said unto them that they should rest 
for a little time until their fellow-servants also and 
their brethren, who should be killed even as they were, 
should have fulfilled their course’’ (vs. 11). This 
shows that there had been no ‘‘Translation of the 
saints up to this time; but the event was near for it 
was only ‘‘a little time.’’ The white robes that were 
given to them, we see them wearing before the throne 
in Rev. 7:9-14, which was the end of ‘‘the little time.’’ 
So this fifth seal covers only a little time. But we find 
another allusion to this ‘‘little time.’’ In Rev. 17:10 
we find ‘‘They are seven kings; the five are fallen, 


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the one is (the sixth) and the other (the seventh) is 
not yet come: and when he cometh, he must continue a 
little while.’’ Now as this Seventh head continues 
only a ‘‘little while’’ and yet continues until the 
Eighth which is the last; and the Fifth seal continues 
also only a ‘‘little time’’ and yet continues until the 
sixth seal when the heavenly and earthly signs appear 
(6 :12-14, Matt. 24:29) ; then they probably cover the 
same period of time. It also shows that the ‘‘Rap- 
ture’’ occurs at the end of the seventh head and at 
the beginning of the eighth—The Antichrist. 


THE FirrH SEAL AND SEVENTH HEAD CLOSE 
TO THE END 


Then it is very evident that the opening of the 
fifth seal and the rule of the seventh head, which we 
have assumed is the League of Nations, are separated 
only a little while from the appearance of Christ for 
His bride and also the revelation of ‘‘the Lawless 
One’’ ‘‘The Beast, the Antichrist’’ (II Thess. 2:8, 9; 
Rev. 13:1-7). Again, as the fifth seal is so near the 
end, why should not the second, third, and fourth 
seals be near the end also, seeing that they are so 
linked together. Especially is this true when the 
second, third, and fourth seals are bound together in 
Rev. 6:8 where their activities are confined to ‘‘one 
fourth part of the earth.’’ This localizes these three 
seals, and forbids the idea that they cover the history 
of events since the time of Christ. Therefore during 


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the time of the seventh head—the League of Nations— 
there is a cessation of the scourges of war and famine 
and pestilences—a time of reconstruction when 
mankind can, under God’s grace give full vent to 
their ambitious schemes, that is, to try some of their 
‘‘Panaceas’’ to cure all the ills of mankind. Man, 
as usual, will become conceited, head-strong, God- 
forgetting and God-defiant ; so God will let man carry 
out his portentous plans to build his ‘* Utopia’’ with- 
out God. All of these traits and features of the Beast 
government will begin to manifest themselves under 
the seventh head, until God will finally withdraw and 
let man do his best. 


Gop’s PEoPpLE Protrectep From Brast 


In order that Man may have unhindered sway and 
also all the credit (?) God and Christ appear and 
take under their protection the entire church of God. 
(1) By translating those who are prepared, viz., ‘* The 
overcomers’’ (Rev. 3:21); ‘‘those who love His ap- 
pearing’’ (II Tim. 4:8) ; those who are supplied with 
the oil (the Holy Spirit) so their light will not go out 
(Matt. 25:1-13) during the skepticism that will pre- 
vail even in pulpits and colleges during ‘‘the last 
days’’ (II Tim. 3:1-7) ; ‘‘to them that wait for Him”’ 
(Heb. 9:28); to those who watch and supplicate 
(Luke 21:36). All of these are represented in the 
‘‘Masculine child’’ and will be ‘‘caught up unto God 
and unto His throne’’ (Rev. 12:5; 2:26, 27; 7:9-14). 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


But the woman, who represents also God’s people, 
who were not ready, will flee ‘‘into the wilderness, 
where she has a place prepared of God, that there 
they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and 
three score days’’ (Rev. 12:6 cf. vs. 14; 18:5; 11:2, 
3; Dan. 7:25). These figures mean the same time, 
which is the time of the reign of the Beast, which is 
three and a half years. While not translated, they are 
protected in this place, which God has prepared (vs. 
6). As we have before stated this may be the United 
States, which three centuries ago was a wilderness and 
has been wonderfully prepared of God to protect its 
citizens in civil and religious liberty, which protection 
has been written into its constitution. 


SATAN’S REIGN ON EARTH 


When the ‘‘Man child,’’ which is Christ and His 
prepared ones, are caught up to the throne of God, 
they overcome Satan and he is cast down to the earth 
(Rev. 12:11, 12). With the presence of Satan there is 
evolved the two Beast government, which is produced 
by the seizing of these federated kingdoms, and all 
these evil forces that had been maturing; and organiz- 
ing them with his skill and cunning into a more com- 
pact world government. The False Prophet will also 
form a world religion, for a world state, out of the great 
religions of the world, that have not only been toler- 
ated, but welcomed under the League of Nations. 
Then under this Satanic government, the human race, 


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those who had said ‘‘We will not that this man 
(Jesus) reign over us’’ (Luke 19:14, 27) will run 
madly on ‘‘Until there was no Remedy’’ (II Chron. 
36:16). When Christ had taken out of the Jewish 
nation His church, and had called His disciples out 
of the doomed Jerusalem, how swiftly did that re- 
bellious nation go to its destruction. So will it be with 
the world itself, when God calls out His obedient 
people, ‘‘ He will avenge them speedily’’ (Luke 18:8) ; 
everything will move swiftly to the end. The Christ 
will descend with this mighty host, whom He has 
gvathered out all the nations (II Thess. 2:1; Rev. 7:9, 
14; 19:11-21) and after destroying all false govern- 
ments in state and religion will rule the world in Love 
and Righteousness. 


“All hail, thou glad tomorrow! 

Speed by, slow footed years, 

The end of mortal sorrow, 

Before my sight appears, 

Yon city, bathed in splendor, 

Life’s fair, immortal tree, 

The light serene and tender, 

Of the Kingdom yet to be.” 

—THorRO Harris. 


[274] 


CHAPTER XXVII 


Christ the King Eternal 


HY should it be thought incredible that our 

Divine Lord should return to this earth to reign 
as its Rightful King? He has been here once and 
mingled His tears, groans and blood with this sor- 
rowing, burdened and blood-stained world. He so 
loved it, that He gave His heart’s blood to redeem it, 
and He said of His Father, ‘‘God so loved the world 
that He gave His Only Begotten Son’’ to keep it from 
perishing. So then why should He not return and 
bring this mighty struggle of the ages to a glorious 
consummation. He said He was coming back to reign, 
after he had received His kingdom, and that He would 
give awards to His servants—the church—and destroy 
the enemies of His righteous kingdom (Luke 19:12- 
27). To Pilate, the representative of the world 
powers, He said ‘‘Thou hast said that I am a king. 
To this end have I been born and to this end am I 
come into the world’’ that is to be its KING. He 
said ‘‘I bear witness unto this truth’’ when He knew 
it would impale Him on the cross. At His ascension 
the two men in white apparel, said ‘‘This Jesus, who 
was received up from you into heaven, shall so come 
in like manner as ye beheld Him going into heaven’’ 


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(Acts 1:11). Nothing could be plainer than the 
words of these heavenly messengers. You saw Jesus 
ascend until a cloud received Him out of your sight? 
Yes: Well ‘‘in like manner”’ shall ‘‘this same Jesus so 
come’’ (cf. Matt. 24:30). Over and over again did 
Jesus tell them the same thing: and at least ten times 
He told them to watch and be ready for His return. 
Peter, Paul, John, James and Jude say many times 
that He was coming back and this was after the 
coming of the Holy Spirit. 


First ADVENT OF JESUS 


The greater wonder is that Jesus came the first time 
and was born in a lowly stable, took His place among 
earth’s toilers, until He moved out into this sin- 
stained world with His Words of Spirit and Life; 
touching its diseases with His healing hand of power, 
and at last dying of a broken heart for its sin. No 
one yet has realized the prodigious fulness of that im- 
pact of Jesus the Christ upon this old world. He 
came into full contact with every phase of its complex 
life, both within and without. He sounded to its 
depths its lowest strata, scaled its loftiest heights and 
encompassed its breadth to its fullest extent and 
reached down to its most insignificant details bringing 
them under His careful scrutiny. 


COMPASSIONATE AND RIGHTEOUS TO ALL 
He with great faithfulness gave to each case the 
treatment that was needed. He was the same great 


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‘*teacher come from God’’ to the woman at the well 
as He was with Nicodemus the ruler of the Jews: to 
the sinful woman of the street as He was with the 
haughty Simon the Pharisee. Jairus, the ruler of the 
synagogue had to wait for the touch of faith of the 
penniless, suffering woman before his daughter was 
healed. How merciless He was with ‘‘the rich fool”’ 
and yet how jubilant over the widow and her two 
mites. How the covetous Pharisees, ‘‘who set all 
others at naught,’’ squirmed when He told them of 
the tremendous change that heaven gave to ‘‘ Dives, 
clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously 
every day,’’ and Lazarus the poor beggar who sat at 
his gate; and how they scowled when they saw the 
repentant Prodigal rejoicing on the inside, while they 
were as the elder son, pouting on the outside. His 
life touched even the Lady of the Governor’s Mansion 
and yet the ‘‘Mary of Magdala’’ and the forgiven 
woman in Simon’s house loved the most, because they 
were ‘‘forgiven much.’’ Not because their sins may 
have been greater, but what there was, whether great 
or small, was dead and the sinner with it, while in 
others the moral self dies so hard. Oh the rich fullness 
and self abandonment of the love of the weeping Mag- 
dalene at the tomb as she said ‘‘Tell me where thou 
hast laid him and I will take him away’’ (John 20: 
15). Those who were driving the nails through the 
tender palms and feet were the objects of His prayer 
‘‘Mather forgive them for they know not what they 


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do’’ and it was the thief at his side, who heard the 
oladdest message of acceptance, while the supercilious 
Herod was ‘‘answered not a word.’’ Oh Beloved, 
would you not love to have Him to be your King? 


CHRIST AND His Lire INTERWOVEN IN HUMANITY 


It is thus that Christ and His life have become so 
interwoven with the human race that they are insep- 
arable. Whatever He touched, and He touched every 
phase, was either transformed into His eternal king- 
dom or was rejected and cast aside as worthless. Not 
only was this true of Him while He was in the flesh, 
but it has been true ever since. His life, what He said 
and did and the lessons that are taught by His contact 
with humanity, have been faithfully recorded by the 
Holy Spirit and wherever this life is read or told it 
has transforming power and the work of separation 
unto life or unto death goes on. And this work will 
oo on until the great harvest; when He will gather all 
that are His into His Glorious Kingdom while the 
tares and that which is worthless will be cast into the 
fire that is unquenchable, which will be fully consum- 
mated at the final Judgment (Rev. 20:14-15). Itisa 
sreat Magnet, that is touching each generation, draw- 
ing unto itself the precious metals, lifting them out of 
the dust and debris of the earth so that ‘‘they shall 
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of my Father’’ 
(Matt. 18:48). And this is the reason for the great 


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‘‘Urge’’ that Jesus has placed upon the preaching of 
this gospel ‘‘among all the nations.’’ ‘‘Go ye into 
all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole 
creation,’’ ‘‘To the uttermost parts of the earth.’’ 
‘‘Preach the Word:’’ in season or out, says the great 
Apostle and ‘‘Woe is me if I do not preach it.’’ So 
Jesus cannot help being the KING; for He is its 
LIFE. ‘‘All believe into Him,’’ ‘‘All are baptized 
into Him,’’ the church is His body of which He is its 
Head, while His Spirit is its heart and life. 


CHRISTIAN UNION 


This is Christ’s great Postulate for the Unity of Be- 
levers, for which he so earnestly prayed. ‘‘I in them, 
and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected into One; 
that the world may know that thou didst send me’’ 
(John 17:23). This is His plan and He has no other, 
in fact there can be no other. All of these schemes for 
union by the compromising of truth are worse than 
useless; for the great postulate of Christian Unity is 
the Love of and Obedience to the Truth, which is 
Jesus ‘“‘the Way the Truth and the Life.’’ Truth is 
one and all separation from truth brings division; and 
the cause of all the divisions that exist in the church 
of Christ to-day is because of these departures from 
the truth. When Christians are ready to throw away 
all authority but Christ (Matt. 28:18), and all man- 
made creeds, every one of which shows human mis- 


[279] 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


takes and limitations, and then take the divinely in- 
spired New Testament as their all sufficient and alone 
sufficient guide; and then abandon all human names 
and human organizations except those which are 
shown to exist in the New Testament Church or might 
be necessary to carry out the great commission of our 
Lord for the Evangelizing of the world, then and only 
then is Christian Union possible. 


New TESTAMENT; SIMPLE BUT COMPREHENSIVE 


No creed or confession of Faith is so simple and so 
easily understood as that of the New Testament. 
‘‘Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God’’ was 
Peter’s ‘‘Confession of Faith’’ which he received from 
God (Matt. 16:15-19). Immediately was this made by 
Jesus ‘‘the creed’’ of His church. ‘‘Upon this Rock 
I will build my church.’’ John’s Gospel was written 
to prove this same ‘‘Confession of Faith’’ (John 20: 
31) and Jesus says ‘‘ He that confesses Me before men 
him will I confess’? and He never required more. 
Paul makes it the all comprehensive ‘‘Confession of 
Faith’’ (Rom. 10:9, 10) and speaks of Christ and 
Timothy making the ‘‘good confession’’ (Tim. 6:12, 
18). Thus the four Gospels which contain nothing 
else but His Words and deeds give to us the CREED 
which is CHRIST. Then the ‘‘ Acts of Apostles’’ tells 
of the birth and organization of the Church of Christ, 
and its history for nearly forty years under the direc- 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


tion and guidance of Christ and His holy Paraclete. 
All things that one needs to know about conversion, 
its causes and manner ean be found in this book. It 
is a book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit and of con- 
versions. Here we find the conversion of Christ’s 
murderers and persecutors and also of devout persons 
hike the Eunuch, Lydia and Cornelius, and of all 
classes, giving us the meaning of conversion in the 
concrete as well as in doctrine. Here is the Norm or 
Model for all churches of Christ to follow. Then the 
twenty-one Epistles that follow, give to us all things 
that the Christian needs to know for the church and 
individual life. Then at the close of the book the 
doors are thrown ajar that we may see the glorious 
consummation in the visible kingdom of Christ on 
earth. This Creed and Guide was all sufficient for the 
first centuries and kept the Church united and vic- 
torious, and it can do the same to-day. 


CuHrIst’s SPIRITUAL Bopy TRANSLATED 


As Christ is the great Magnet, that has drawn out 
of the world the children of the kingdom, when He 
appears ‘‘on the clouds of heaven with power and 
great glory,’’ the living saints will be suddenly 
changed ‘‘in a moment’’ (1 Cor. 15:28, 51, 52) ‘and 
the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are 
alive shall together with them be caught up in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air’’ (I Thess. 4:16, 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


17; Matt. 24:29-31; Rev. 6:16, 17; 7:9, 14). We see 
here that instead of Christ coming with His body— 
the church—to reign, He takes them out of the earth 
up into the clouds and before God’s throne. But in 
Luke 19:12, 15-27 and in Rev. 19:11-21 we see Him 
coming with these saints to reign on the earth. This 
shows that Christ’s coming is in two stages, viz., His 
appearing on the clouds to take His bride out of the 
earth, while the present world system is being de- 
stroyed and then His coming back with these saints 
to reign in glory. After the translation of the saints 
as described in Rev. 7:9-17 there is no place for the 
church to be on earth until we reach (Rev. 19:14, 19; 
20:1-6). Rev. 9:20-21 shows that after the saints are 
caught up (7:9-14) there were only the obdurate sin- 
ners left for the plagues. Rev. 18:1-17 also excludes 
the church, for when the Beast, etc., ‘‘wars against the 
Lamb’’ and His overcomers (Rey. 17:14) he himself 
is overcome and not the church. But the saints of 
Rev. 13:7, who are overcome by the beast are probably 
the 144000 sealed Jews who were left on the earth, 
and are also mentioned in 12:17 as “‘the rest of her 
seed’’ to distinguish them from the translated ones 
spoken of as the man-child (12:5). Then in Rev. 14: 
1-5, we see this same company with glorified bodies 
showing their resurrection. The book of Revelation 
makes this distinction very plain between the transla- 
tion of the saints (Rev. 7:9, 14) and the returning 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


of Christ with these saints in Rev. 19:11-20:6. In the 
Olivet discourse Jesus gets no nearer to the earth 
than the clouds except in Matt. 25:31-46. And this 
appearance in the clouds is the great event to which 
Jesus continually refers when He says ‘‘ Watch,”’ ete. 
For at His appearance in the clouds, where according 
to Paul we are to meet Him (I Thess. 4:16, 17; ef. 
Mark 13:24-27, ete.) Pauls says significantly; ‘‘So 
shall we ever be with the Lord.’’ That was enough 
for Paul and ourselves. With our glorified, spiritual 
bodies and with HIM—what need we more? While 
Paul ealls this ‘‘Our gathering together unto Him,”’’ 
yet he clearly indicates the second stage, when Jesus 
shall return with these saints, He had gathered, to 
destroy the ‘‘Man of Sin’’ (II Thess. 2:3, 8). It is 
the same in 1:7-+0 where Jesus comes ‘‘with the 
angels of His power in flaming fire, rendering 
vengeance, ete.’’ This is different from I Thess. 4: 
16, 17 and Rev. 7:9-17 where He is the ‘‘Shepherd”’ 
(vs. 17) but is in perfect harmony with Rev. 19 :11-21. 
But the next great event is to be the gathering of the 
saints by the angels as the reapers, when Jesus ap- 
pears in the cloud (Matt. 24:30, 31), and concerning 
which Jesus alludes continually in the Olivet Dis- 
course. And this will come suddenly, ‘‘in an hour 
that ye think not,’’ and the change of the living saints 
will be done instantly. ‘“‘ALL HAIL KING IM- 
MANUEL.”’ 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


“T know not when my Lord may come, 
At night or noon-day fair, 
Nor if I walk the vale with Him, 
Or meet Him in the air. 
But I know whom I have believed, 
And am persuaded that He is able, 
To keep that which I’ve committed 
Unto Him against that day.” 

—Masor Wuirtue (El Nathan). 


[284] 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


The Signs and Events of Christ’s 
Coming 


N Mount Olivet, Peter, James, John and Andrew 

asked Jesus, ‘‘Tell us when shall these things 

be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of 
the end of the world-age’’ (Matt. 24:3). 

The heart of this question is the one we are also 
asking, viz., ‘“The sign of thy coming (Parousia) and. 
the end of the age’’ (see Margin). 

First, Jesus gives the warnings in Matt. 24:4-6; 
Mk. 18:5-7; Luke 21:8, 9, where He says ‘‘The end 
is not yet.’’ While that which follows in Matt. 24: 
7-18; Mk. 18:8-13 might seem to be an elaboration of 
the warnings, yet in Luke 21:10, there is a complete 
separation from them by ‘‘Then said He unto them.’’ 
And then Jesus gives five signs in a group viz., ‘‘Na- 
tion shall arise against nation and kingdom against 
kingdom; and there shall be earthquakes, and in 
divers places famines and pestilences; and there shall 
be terrors and great signs from heaven’’ (Luke 21: 
10, 11). Not only does Luke put these five signs in a 
group, but he says ‘‘But before all these things 
(the five signs) they shall persecute you, ete.,’’ which 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


persecutions have existed through the history of the 
church until 1900 A. D. (Mk. 18, 9-12). It is the 
preaching of the Gospel to all nations, even to the end 
(Mk. 13:10-18, cf. Matt. 24:14) that brings the perse- 
cution. So as these signs are to appear after the perse- 
eutions, it brings them down to the present generation. 
Then again, the last sign the “‘Terrors and great signs 
from heaven’’ accompany Christ’s appearance in the 
clouds, which brings the whole group close to the end, 
to be signs of Christ’s Coming. Note, that Jesus is not 
asked to give a history of events through the centuries 
but is answering their questions ‘‘When ‘shall these 
things be?’’ (The destruction of the Temple) ‘‘and 
what shall be the sign of thy coming?’’ Then in 
Matt. 24:7, 8 Jesus, after giving the first three signs, 
viz., ‘‘Nation shall rise against nation, ete., and there 
shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places’’ 
says ‘‘these things are the beginning of travail’’— 
‘‘birth-pangs,’’ Rotherham translates it. If these 
things are ‘‘birth-pangs’’ they immediately precede 
the birth of the ‘‘Man-child’’ (Rev. 12:6) or the 
ushering in of the kingdom of God (Luke 21:81). 
Then Jesus in Matt. 24:14 gives a positive sign of the 
end, viz., ‘‘And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be 
preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all 
the nations; and then shall the end come.’’ This 
means ‘‘ World Evangelization,’’ which brings the end 
of the Gospel age. Now these six signs agree exactly 
with the first six seals, that we have already noticed 


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(Rev. 6:1-17) viz, World evangelization, world war, 
world conservation of food, pestilences, earthquakes, 
and ‘‘terrors and signs from the heaven’’ that follow 
one another without a break. 


ALL SIGNS IN ONE GENERATION 


While the events of these signs, except the last 
‘‘Terrors, ete.,’’ do occur down through the centuries, 
yet they do not become signs until they all occur 
together. ‘‘When ye see all these things,’’ says Jesus, 
‘‘know ye that He (Jesus) is nigh, even at the doors’’ 
(Matt. 24:33). ‘‘When ye see all’’ not some but 
‘‘ALL these things.’’ Then says Jesus, ‘‘Verily I 
say unto you, This generation (that sees all these 
things) shall not pass away till all these things be 
accomplished’’ (Matt. 24:34). Only one generation 
can see them all, for the ones who see the first must 
see the last to see them all. ‘‘That generation’’ is as 
cood a translation as ‘‘this’’ and it does not mean 
necessarily the generation in which Jesus was speak- 
ing, but ‘‘that generation’’ that ‘‘sees all these 
things.’’ And if it shall not come for two thousand 
years, Jesus seems to say, I will certainly come when 
the signs appear; for ‘‘ Heaven and earth shall pass 
away, but my Words shall not pass away’’ (vs. 35). 
If we make generation mean the Jewish race, how 
could the perpetuity of the Jews be a sign that Jesus 
was about to appear, when they have always existed. 
What Jesus says is that a certain generation, no odds 


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OUR LORD’S RETURN 


how far hence it may be, will ‘‘see all these things.’’ 
For instance, the generation that sees (1) the world 
being evangelized as it is to-day (Matt. 24:14) (2) 
and a world-war brought on by ‘‘nation rising against 
nation’’ as in 1914-1918; ‘‘taking peace from the 
earth’’ (Rev. 6:4) (8) and the weighing out of food— 
‘‘Barley and Wheat’’ all over the world (Rev. 6:5, 6) 
as was done in 1917-1918 (4) and that sees ‘‘pesti- 
lences sweep over the world like the ‘‘Flu’’ in 1918 
A. D. causing more deaths than were killed in the 
world war (Rev. 6:7, 8), (5) and then witnesses earth- 
quake after earthquake killing hundreds of thousands 
(Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:12); “‘This generation’’ says 
Jesus, ‘‘shall not pass away till all these things be 
accomplished.’’ That is, not only will the signs ap- 
pear, but the coming of Jesus on the clouds and the 
eatching up of the saints will be accomplished in that 
veneration (Matt. 24:30, 31). All of these signs have 
been seen by this generation except the sixth, viz., the 
‘‘Terrors, ete.,’” which accompany Christ’s appear- 
ance in the heavens. There are some smaller signs, 
which we have already noticed as, ‘‘Lo here and Lo 
there,’’ which are prevalent, and false prophets and 
theories abound. 


SIGN OF THE ANTICHRIST 


But there is a great sign, spoken of by the prophets 
and the Christ and the apostles, the manifestation of 
which is a sure sign of the end. Jesus calls it the 


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‘‘Abomination of desolation, which was spoken of 
through Daniel the prophet’’ (Matt. 24:15; Mk. 18: 
14). Daniel alludes to this ‘‘ Abomination of desola- 
tion’’ both in type and antitype (9:27; 11:31; 12:11) 
and then more particularly in the mixed iron and 
elay in the toes of the image (2:41-48) and in the little 
horn which is to possess the earth until he is destroyed 
and the ‘‘saints possess the kingdom’’ (7:8, 11, 21, 
24, 25). Paul calls it the ‘‘Man of sin’’ and the 
‘‘Lawless One’’ which is destroyed by Christ’s Com- 
ing (IT Thess. 2:3, 8), and John in Revelation calls it 
the Beast (138:1-17). It is accompanied by a great 
Apostasy from the Faith (II Thess. 2:3; II Tim. 3: 
1-5) which in uniting with other religious cults is 
ealled ‘‘The False Prophet’’ (Rev. 16: 18; 19:20), 
and is described in Rey. 13:11-17. The great Apostate 
church called ‘‘Babylon the harlot’’ which rode the 
civil governments for over twelve centuries is also 
destroyed (Rev. 17: 1-6, 16, 17). All of these form 
the title of this volume, which is written to unfold and 
describe this last great sign, ‘‘The Antichrist,’’ the 
evidence of whose coming is seen on every side. 


Sians VISIBLE TO ALL 


That these great World Signs are already visible 
must be patent to all. The very events as they occur 
fit so perfectly into the predictions, that they give to 
us a sure exegesis of the prophecies themselves, al- 
though we follow the exegesis and not the events. 


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Note, particularly, that these signs are not ‘‘dark 
sayings,’’ hard to be understood. Jesus is not using 
strong figures of speech in this discourse, but He is 
giving a plain, direct answer to plain, direct questions. 
His using the fig tree as an illustration shows how 
plainly He desired to make it. ‘‘ Behold the fig tree 
and all the trees, when they now shoot forth, ye see it 
and know of your own-selves that the summer is now 
nigh. Even so ye also, when ye see these things com- 
- ing to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh’’ 
(Luke 21: 29-31). That is, if you have sense enough 
to know when summer is coming, you will see and 
know these signs when they appear. How wrong it is 
to assume that Jesus did not understand what a sign 
is. A sign is something tangible, to be seen and not a 
figure of speech to be explained away. Jesus ‘‘coming 
on the clouds’’ is the same as the manner of His going 
away (Acts 1:9) and the physical disturbances will 
occur just as they are described. ‘‘The sun shall be 
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and 
the stars shall be falling from heaven, etc.’’ (Mk. 138: 
24, 25) are to be taken literally. ‘‘The falling of a 
star’’ is correct language, for it describes*the falling 
of a meteor; and it is so used the world over and for 
all time. Such displays were called the ‘‘ falling of the 
stars’’ in a meteoric shower in 1833; so God has 
already illustrated just what is meant. Instead of 
these stars with the sun and moon meaning kings and 
rulers, John in Rev. 6:12-15 mentions the real kings, 


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ete., along with these luminaries even ‘‘the moun- 
tains’’ showing that they are different. There will be 
a tremendous shaking of this old earth when the Lord 
of Life and Power draws nigh. ‘‘The chief captains”’ 
and rulers and seofflaws will ery out as described in 
Rev. 6:12-17, ef. Heb. 12:25, 26. The jarring of the 
earth would produce all of these physical phenomena. 
As these signs are so important we will even at the 
risk of some repetition, give them a more complete 
deseription in the next chapter. 


[291] 


CHAPTER XXIXx 


Visible Signs and Preparation for 
Christ’s Return 


NE of the great events that Jesus gives as a posi- 

tive sign of the end of this age and which He 
also gave to John in the breaking of the first seal is 
‘“World Evangelization’’ (Matt. 24:14; Rev. 6:2). 
His great Commission, given with ‘‘ All authority in 
heaven and on earth,’’ was to ‘‘Go and Evangelize the 
whole creation’? (Matt. 28:18-20). Now when asked 
‘‘What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end 
of the age?’’ He says ‘‘And this gospel of the king- 
dom shall be preached in the whole world as a testi- 
mony unto all the nations; and then shall the end 
come’’ (Matt. 24:14). He says, in fact, when the 
ehurch—the bride fulfills its commission, then I shall 
return to take her to Myself and bring this gospel 
age to an end. When Christ puts World Evangeliza- 
tion as a sign, He implies that there would be a time 
of special effort near the end to accomplish that great 
task. That this special effort is really occurring in 
this generation is seen from the following. In the 
‘Crisis of Missions’’ (pages 352-363) Dr. A. T. Pier- 
son says: ‘‘At the Northfield convention in 1885, D. 


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L. Moody presiding, the following appeal was made 
to “‘ Disciples everywhere; calling for (a) The imme- 
diate occupation and evangelizing of every destititue 
district of the earth’s population and (b) a new 
effusion of the Spirit in answer to united prayer.’’ 
‘‘In 1886 (at Northfield) a convention of nearly three 
hundred young men from one hundred colleges gath- 
ered for four weeks of prayer and Bible Study. One 
hundred of those students consecrated their lives to 
the work of missions.’’ ‘‘It was obviously the work 
of no man, but of His Holy Spirit.’’ Out of this con- 
vention came ‘‘The Student Volunteer Movement’’ 
which took up the ery at their great convention in 
1888, ‘‘Evangelize the World in this Generation.’’ 
‘“You do this,’’ Jesus seems to ery back to them, ‘‘and 
I will Return and this Gospel age will end and the 
Millennium will begin.’’ Everyone knows that in 
‘‘this generation’’ there has been a great growth in 
missions. Billions of dollars may be given in a united 
effort to evangelize the world, which is all that Jesus 
implies in Matt. 24:14. The White Horse rider which 
stands for the Christ and His Missionary army (Rev. 
6:2, ef. 19:11, 14) is shooting arrows of conviction 
(Acts 2:27) with his bow and is going forward ‘‘con- 
quering and to conquer.’’ The whole foreign field 
realizes his presence and so does the home land where 
the appeal for missionaries and money are made. So 
this White Horse is seen by All the World. 


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2. The Red Horse of war next appears in the break- 
ing of the second seal (Rev. 6:8, 4). This clearly 
describes a World War. This ‘‘great sword’’ stands 
for great weapons of destruction. ‘‘It was given unto 
them that they should slay one another.’’ This was 


certainly fulfilled, and he was ‘‘to take peace from the: 


aia 


earth.’’ Now this is a perfect description of this late 
world war; for peace was taken from the whole earth, 
the weapons of war were great and they certainly slew 
one another. Jesus describes this same world war in 
Luke 21:10, ‘‘Nation shall rise against nation and 
kingdom against kingdom.’’ ‘‘This is not a war of 
armies’’ says Lloyd George, ‘‘but of nations.’’ The 
whole world saw this ‘‘ Red Horse.’’ 

3. ‘‘Famines in Divers Places’’ is the statement of 
Jesus in Luke 21:10. This agrees with the breaking 
of the third seal which reveals the Black horse (Rev. 
6:5, 6). The fulfillment of this is remarkable. It is 
not a world famine but is to be only ‘‘in divers 
places.’’ But this Black horse rider goes through the 
earth for all these horses are ‘‘globe trotters.’’ ‘‘The 
balances’’ and weighing out of food, show the conser- 
vation of food, for the ‘‘famine in divers places,”’ 
which we find in Rev. 6:8 to be ‘‘one fourth part of 
the earth.’’ This is exactly what was done in the 
United States beginning February Ist, 1917. ‘‘Food 
will win the war,’’ was placarded at every country 
store, hamlet and city throughout the nation, and 
there were Wheatless and Meatless days, ete. The nose 


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“ 
" i» x F Z 
et ee ee a 


OUR LORD’S RETURN 


of this Black horse went into every pantry while its 
rider with his scales, weighed out the ‘‘white flour’’ 
giving only thirty lbs. to each family. ‘‘Mix 33 1-8% 
of Barley with our Wheat flour and make war bread’’ 
was on great bill-boards. Note the three to one mixture 
(vs. 6). This Black horse was seen throughout the 
world in ‘‘Bread-lines, ete.’’ How could it be ful- 
filled more completely. This Black Horse was seen 
by the whole civilized world. 

4. **Pestilences’’?’ (Luke 21:11) agrees with the 
fourth seal, which shows a ‘‘pale horse whose rider is 
Death’’ (pestilence Rev. 6:8). Jesus used the plural. 
These are also to be ‘‘in divers places.’’ But that this 
horse could be seen and felt by the whole world, it 
was, permitted to go around the globe. ‘‘The Spanish 
Influenza’’ alone took the awful toll of 350,000 in six 
months in the United States, and six millions in India 
and more in the world than were killed in the world 
war. This ‘‘Pale Horse whose rider was Death’’ was 
not only seen but it left in its trail desolate hearts and 
homes. The civilized world knew of the presence of 
this Pale Horse. 

5. ‘‘And there was given unto them authority over 
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and 
with famine, and with death (pestilence, Rev. 6:8). 
This is a very remarkable statement. While there was 
to be a world war, ‘‘taking peace from the earth,’’ 
yet they were to ‘‘kill with sword’’ in only ‘‘one 
fourth part of the world.’’ The same with the food. 


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It was to be conserved all over the world, for the fam- 
ine that was to be in the one fourth part, and the 
pestilences to a large degree were to be in ‘‘one fourth 
part of the earth.’’ This has been carried out to the 
letter. Europe and Russian and Turkish Asia, which 
was the battlefield of the world war, cover in square 
miles about one-fourth of the earth’s land surface and 
contain one-fourth of the earth’s population. 

6. Great Earthquakes are also given as a sign by 
Jesus in Luke 21:11. These are described in Mat.. 
24:7; Mk. 13:8 as being ‘‘in divers places.’’ Every 
one in the civilized world realizes the evidence of this 
sion. Not only was there a series of earthquakes be- 
ginning at San Francisco several years ago that went 
around the world, but the ‘‘Great Earthquake’’ in 
Japan is fresh in our memories. And this late catas- 
trophe at Santa Barbara, Calif., and the continued 
tremors throughout the East as well as the West are 
given ‘‘lest we forget.’’ Artists have been so im- 
pressed that they have drawn pictures of what would 
happen to New York if a great earthquake similar to 
that in Japan would happen. Note, these pictures of 
the sky-scrapers, ete., falling to the earth and sober 
articles in the papers showing that it may be a possi- 
bility are not the work of Adventists, but are the 
products of careful calculators of what might possibly 
occur. Another ‘‘Great Earthquake’’ is to occur at 
the breaking of the sixth seal, which will startle the 
earth (Rev. 6:12), and the disturbances will be so 


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fearful that the topography of the earth will be 
changed and all classes will be in consternation except 
the true church of Christ which will at that time be 
ovathered by the angels as reapers (Matt. 24:31; Mk. 
13:27). In Heb. 12:26, 27 we read that ‘‘not the 
earth only, but also the heaven’’ will be made ‘‘to 
tremble,’’ which agrees with Rey. 6:12 where the 
heavenly bodies are also affected. This great commo- 
tion in heaven and the earth is produced by the 
approach of Deity to the earth (Matt. 26:64; 24:29, 
30 Rev. 6:16, 17). This Great Earthquake occurs 
too late to be a warning. It will come like all earth- 
quakes, suddenly, and Jesus’ appearance in the clouds 
will be unexpected. ‘‘AIl the Tribes of the earth will 
mourn’’ (wail) (Matt. 24:30, Rev. 6:15, 17) but the 
saints will be changed and translated (I Thess. 4:16, 
17; I Cor. 15:51, 52; Rev. 7:9-14). 

7. The Red-Radical Menace. 

That the Soviet-Bolsheviki propaganda is growing 
is shown in all the dailies. The threatened civil war 
and the riots among students in China is credited to 
the Chinese ‘‘swallowing the Soviet Gospel.’’ See- 
retary of State Kellogg has just said at Minneapolis, 
Minn.—‘‘I am not an alarmist.’’ ‘‘I doubt if you are 
aware of the amount of destructive, revolutionary 
propaganda which is being secretly distributed in this 
country by foreign influence.’’ This position was 
held by Mr. Hughes, his predecessor, so he refused to 
recognize the Soviet government of Russia. That this 


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subtle ‘‘frog-like spirit’? has gone throughout the 
world is very evident and if it affects free America, 
what will be the effect in China, India, Japan, Egypt 
and the Soudan, to say nothing about middle Europe 
where its agitation has been well known since the 
world war. For one to fail to ‘‘see these things’’ 
shows a blindness that is born of prejudice or in- 
difference. ‘‘ When therefore ye see the Abomination 
of Desolation’’ (Matt. 24:15), °* (Let him that readeth 
understand) ’’ says Jesus, ‘‘Flee to the mountains.’’ 
This warning saved the Christians from the terrible 
destruction that befell the Jews in the destruction of 
Jerusalem (70 A. D.), but it is a warning to us as 
well, for we ‘‘can also read.’’ Just as the army of the 
world-power of Rome was then threatening the Jews, 
so this world propaganda of the Radical-Reds is 
threatening the civilized world. It is certainly an 
‘‘Abomination that makes desolate, ‘‘for its great 
object is to destroy and overturn the present govern- 
ments and it is spreading its revolutionary teaching to. 
the ends of the earth. James H. McConkey, in his 
excellent book ‘‘The Book of Revelation’’ says on 
pages 24 and 25 in commenting upon Matt. 24:15— 
‘* Jesus puts His finger on one supreme, vital fact (The 
Antichrist) which foreruns and determines the end.’’ 
And in Daniel (12:11) ‘‘God places His finger upon 
this strange figure to which Christ has referred and 
says to Daniel that “From the time that the Abomina- 
tion that maketh desolate is set up; until the end shall 


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be a certain period of somewhat over three years and 
a half’.’’ We know that Paul says ‘‘whom (the Anti- 
christ) the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of 
His mouth at His Coming’’ (II Thess. 2:8) and John 
tells of his complete destruction with the false prophet 
and the federated armies of the world when Jesus 
comes with His glorious Bride to reign (Rev. 19:11, 
14, 19, 21) which is three years and a half after the 
appearing of this Antichrist. 


TIME OF CHRIST’S APPEARING 


‘*But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even 
the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father 
only’’ (Matt. 24:36; ef. Acts 1:7). While we are not 
to know, nor seek to know, the day or hour, yet we 
may know the generation, for Jesus gives us the 
signs that we may know. For some reason the Father 
hath set this ‘‘ within His own authority.’’ How fool- 
ish to set days with this clear statement before us. 
Jesus is to come suddenly, unexpectedly like the 
flood. ‘‘They knew not until the flood came and 
took them all away; so shall be the coming of the 
Son of man.’’ But Noah knew the generation or 
he would not have built the ark. 

“‘But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that 
day should overtake you as a thief’’ (I Thess. 5:4). 
‘‘Seeing that these things are thus all to be dis- 
solved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in 
all holy living and godliness, looking for and earn- 


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estly desiring the coming of the day of God’”’ (II Pet. 
3:12). ‘*‘Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we 
should live soberly and righteously and godly in this 
present world: looking for the Blessed Hope and ap- 
pearing of the glory of the great God and our 
Saviour Jesus Christ’’ (Tit. 2:12-13). ‘‘But take 
heed to yourselves,’’ says Jesus ‘‘lest haply your 
hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunken- 
ness and cares of this hfe, and that day come upon 
you suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon 
all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. But 
watch ye at every season, making supplication, that 
ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall 
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man”’ 
(Luke 21:34-36). 

‘AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO 
ALL, WATCH.’’ ‘‘BEHOLD! I COME QUICKLY, 
AMEN: COME, LORD JESUS.”’’ 


[300] 


APPENDIX 


The Beast Government or the 


Anti-Christ 
Rev. 13:1-8; 17:1, 3, 7-15 


(1) ‘‘And he stood upon the sand of the sea. And 
I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten 
horns and seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, 
and upon his heads names of blasphemy. (2) And 
the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and 
his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as 
the mouth of a lion; and the dragon gave him his 
power, and his throne, and great authority. (3) 
And I saw one of his heads as though it had been 
smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed: 
and the whole earth wondered after the beast: (4) 
and they worshipped the dragon, because he gave his 
authority unto the beast: and they worshipped the 
beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? and who 
is able to war with him? (5) and there was given 
to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphe- 
mies; and there was given to him authority to con- 
tinue forty and two months. (6) And he opened 
his mouth for blasphemies against God, to blaspheme 


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THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST 


his name, and his tabernacle, even them that dwell in 
the heaven. (7) And it was given unto him to make 
war with the saints, and to overcome them; and 
there was given to him authority over every tribe 
and people and tongue and nation. (8) And all 
that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one 
whose name hath not been written from the founda- 
tion of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that 
hath been slain.”’ 

In the seventeenth chapter, an angel comes and 
further describes this beast government, thus giving 
the interpretation of this vision as the angel did to 
Daniel (7:16) and as Jesus gave the interpretations 
to his parables (Mat. 13:18). 

‘‘Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of 
the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters’’ 
(Rev. 17:1). 

‘‘And I saw a woman sitting upon a searlet-colored 
beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven 
heads and ten horns’’ (17:3). 

(7) ‘‘T will tell thee the mystery of the woman, 
and of the beast that carried her, which hath the 
seven heads and the ten horns. (8) The beast that 
thou sawest was, and is not and is about to come up 
out of the abyss, and to go into perdition. And they 
that dwell on the earth shall wonder, they whose 
name hath not been written in the book of life from 
the foundation of the world, when they behold the 
beast, how that he was, and is not, and shall come. 


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THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST 


(9) Here is the mind that hath wisdom. The seven 
heads are seven mountains, on which the woman 
sitteth; (10) and they are seven kings; the five are 
fallen, the one, is, the other is not yet come: and 
when he cometh, he must continue a little while. 
(11) And the beast that was, and is not, is himself 
also an eighth, and is of the seven: and he goeth into 
perdition. (12) And the ten horns that thou sawest 
are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet: 
but they receive authority as kings, with the beast, 
for one hour. (18) These have one mind, and they 
give their power and authority unto the beast. (14) 
These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb 
shall overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and 
King of kings, and they also shall overcome that are 
with him, called and chosen and faithful.’’ (15) 
‘‘And he saith unto me, The waters which thou saw- 
est, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multi- 
tudes, and nations, and tongues’’ (Rev. 17:7-15). 


MEANING OF THE SYMBOLS 


Let us first divest this description of its symbols, 
which are clearly defined, so that the reality may 
stand out plainly before us. 

‘““BHAST’’—means a human government (Dan. 7: 
23; Rev. 18:7) and not an individual. No where in the 
prophecies does the word ‘‘beast’’ mean a person. The 
‘‘Beasts’’ of Dan. 7:1-7 describe governments lasting 
for centuries. A ‘‘Horn’’ may stand for a person as 


[303] 


THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST 


the ‘‘ Notable Horn”’ in Dan. 8:5, 8, 21 stood for Alex- 
ander the Great. But the beast (goat) stood for 
Greece (vs. 21). But this Beast of Rev. 13:1-8 has 
‘‘ten horns’’ and ‘‘seven heads.’’ How can it de- 
scribe a person? Then, the woman is said to sit upon 
this beast, which is defined as ‘‘many waters,’’ which 
is interpreted by the angel to be ‘‘Peoples, multi- 
tudes, nations and tongues’’ (Rev. 17:1, 3, 15). So 
this ‘‘beast’’ is not an individual but a government 
composed of ‘‘Peoples, multitudes, nations and 
tongues. ’’ 

‘‘SEA’’—(Waters) ‘‘are peoples, multitudes, na- 
tions, and tongues’’ (Rev. 17:15). Sea is universal. 

‘““DRAGON’’—‘‘Satan, the devil, the old Serpent, 
the Deceiver of the whole world’’ (Rev. 12:9; 
20:2). 

“SEVEN HEADS’’—‘‘are seven mountains’’; 
‘‘they are seven kings’’ or governments (Rev. 17:9, 
10). Seven heads and seven mountains are symbols 
to describe the seven kings or kingdoms and so are 
not the seven literal hills of Rome. They are moun- 
tain kingdoms or seven world-wide governments, 
like Babylon, which is called a mountain (Jer. 51 :25) 
and God’s Kingdom is ealled ‘‘a great mountain’’ 
(Dan. 2:35). They are not now reigning for they 
have no diadems (crowns). 

Note, the iron- teethed monster of Dan. 7:7, which 
is Rome, has only one head, so cannot be this Beast 
of Rev. 13:1, which has seven. 


[304] 


THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST 


“THN HORNS’’—‘are ten kings’’ or ten govern- 
ments (Rev. 17:9-10). The word ‘‘king’’ in Dan. 7:17 
is changed to ‘‘kingdom’’ in vs. 28 which shows they 
mean the same. All of these ten are called ‘‘a king- 
dom’’ in Rev. 17:17, which indicates a Federation of 
Governments who are not conquered by a military 
genius, but act of their own will, and with ‘‘one mind’’ 
(Rev. 17:13-17) give willing authority and adoration 
to the beast. They are ten regal executors, who admin- 
ister what the ‘‘seven heads’’—‘‘the multitudes’’— 
conceive and promulgate. They have ‘‘received no 
kingdom as yet,’’ that is, the federation of these ten 
governments has not yet been consummated at the 
time of John’s standpoint in writing, which is in the 
time of the sixth head; for he uses the present tense 
‘is’? (Rev. 17:10). But when ‘‘they receive author- 
ity as kings (or governments as executors) with the 
beast for one hour, they have one mind, and they 
give (not forced) their power and authority unto 
the beast’’ (Rev. 17:12, 18). 

“TEN DIADEMS’’—Each king retains his king- 
dom, or each government its autonomy, while giving 
their power and authority unto the ‘‘beast’’ (Rev. 
13:1; 17:18). These ‘‘crowns’’ show that they are 
now reigning and their activity is shown in Rev. 
Ae SLO) 1.7. 

Note—The woman sitteth upon many waters (17: 
Peete 1,:bo) 


[305] 


THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST. 


The woman sitteth upon the beast of seven heads 
and ten horns, (17:38). 

The woman sitteth upon ‘‘seven mountains’’— 
‘‘seven kings’’ (seven kingdoms or world powers) 
(17:9). These three statements show that the ‘‘many 
waters,’’ ‘‘The Beast,’’ and the seven mountain 
kingdoms are the same. So this last human govern- 
ment is composed ‘of the peoples of what was once 
seven world-wide kingdoms or governments, also of | 
‘‘neoples, multitudes, nations and tongues’’ which 
becomes an eighth world power supported by a fed- 
eration of ten governments (Rev. 13:7; 17:11, 18, 
15) 17): 


Not tHe Tren Drvisions oF THE RoMAN EMPIRE 


It is not necessary that these ten should occupy 
the original territory of the old Roman Empire, for 
this beast of Rev. 13:1-7 is the same as the ‘‘little 
horn’’ of Dan. 7:8, which has ‘‘eyes like the eyes of 
a man,’’ which is in emphatic contrast to the iron- 
teethed monster of vs. 7, which is the Roman Em- 
pire. This ‘‘little horn’’ succeeds the ten horns— 
‘‘arises after them’’ (vs. 24), and absorbs only three 
of the ten horns that came out of the Roman empire, 
which is the fourth beast of Dan. 7:7. It is this 
‘*little horn’’ that ‘‘makes war on the saints’’ (Dan. 
7:11, 21, 25; If Thess. 2:4; Rev. 138:6-7) and ‘‘shall 
think to change the times and the law; and they shall 
be given into his hand until a time and times and 


[306] 


THE BEAST GOVERNMENT OR ANTI-CHRIST 


half a time’’ (Dan. 7:25), which is the same time as 
the reign of John’s beast (Rev. 13:5 ef., 12:6, 14). 
It is has dominion that is ‘‘taken away to consume 
and to destroy it unto the end’’ (Dan. 7:26). So the 
beast of Rev. 18:1-7 is not the Roman empire re- 
stored, neither is it the ten divisions that came out 
of it, for it sueceeds them, but is a government that 
is in decided contrast as shown in Dan. 7:7-8. While 
the iron of Rome extends into the feet and toes of 
the image, yet they are composed also of clay-democ- 
racy (Dan. 2:41-43), as is seen in England, France, 
Germany, Russia and all the nations of the world 
to-day. Satan forms this last government to be like 
himself, ‘‘the Dragon,’’ who “‘has seven heads and 
ten horns’’ (Rev. 12:3); but this beast of Rome has 
but one head (Dan. 7:7) and this little horn suc- 
eeeds the ‘‘Ten Horns’’ while these ‘‘ten’’ of Rev. 
18:1; 17:17 are contemporary. Then John sees this 
last government as a composite of Daniel’s three 
beasts—the leopard, bear, and lion (Rev. 18:2), but 
the fourth, which is the Roman Empire, is omitted 
because all autocratic governments are forever 
swept away, and it is only represented in the “‘little 
horn,’’ which is the same as the feet and toes of the 
image where ‘‘the iron is mixed with the clay.’’ So 
when the image is smitten on its feet, the whole 
image, ‘‘the iron, brass, clay, silver and gold’’ 
erumble to dust, (Dan. 2:45) ; which shows that they 
are all represented in this last government. 


[307] 


APPENDIX II 


John’s Standpoint 


The book of Revelation, the only prophetic book 
of the New Testament, is the most remarkable book 
that was ever written. While it has been a source 
of inspiration and hope through the entire Christian 
dispensation, yet its specific revelations are for the 
last generation in which all the signs of Christ’s 
Coming and the Coming itself shall occur. The whole 
book from chapter four, where John is taken up into 
heaven to be ‘‘shown the things which must come to 
pass hereafter,’’ is what Jesus gives as an answer to 
the question of the four disciples on the Mount of 
Olives, viz., ‘“‘what shall be the sign of thy coming, 
and of the end of the age?’’ (Matt. 24:3). While 
Matthew, Mark and Luke give chapters to the 
answer John gives a whole book. So the very title 
of the book of Revelation is ‘‘The Revelation or Un- 
veiling of Jesus Christ’? which is Christ’s Second 
Coming. 

(1) The word ‘‘Apocalypse’’ means the same in 
Rev. 1:1 as it does in I Cor. 1:7; II Thess 1:7; I Pet. 
1:7, 18; Luke 17:80, viz., ‘‘The Revelation or Un- 
veiling of Jesus Christ.’’ It is not a revelation from 


? 


[308] 


JOHN’S STANDPOINT 


Christ but the revealing of Jesus Himself in His 
glorious ‘‘Parousia.”’ 

(2) John says, ‘‘I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s 
day’’ or as R. F. Weymouth translates it, ‘SIN the 
Spirit I found myself present on the Day of the 
Lord’’ (Rev. 1:10). This translation says that John 
was carried forward by the Spirit into ‘‘The Day 
of the Lord,’’ in which day all of these events are to 
oceur. ‘‘The Day of the Lord’’ says Jesus ‘‘is the 
day that the Son of man is revealed’’ or according to 
Weymouth ‘‘the day that the veil is lifted from the 
Son of man”’ (Luke 17:30). Paul ealls ‘‘The Revela- 
tion of Jesus Christ’’ (Rev. 1:1). ‘‘The day of our 
Lord Jesus Christ’’ (I Cor. 1:7, 8) and in II Thess. 
2:1, 2 he calls ‘‘the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”’ 
‘‘the Day of the Lord’’ and he couples these together 
in his graphie account of ‘‘the translation of the 
saints’’ (I Thess. 4:15-5:2). 

(3) John clearly states, that his standpoint, was 
in the reign of the Sixth Head—the ‘‘Sixth moun- 
tain kingdom’’ (Rev. 17:10). He says, ‘‘Five are 
fallen, the One 1s, the other is not yet come.’’ That 
is, Five of these kingdoms had passed and he was 
writing from the standpoint of the Sixth for he uses 
the present tense. Then he says, ‘‘The other (the 
seventh) is not yet come.’’ Now this Sixth head, we 
assume, was the Central Powers, viz., Germany, 
Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey who arose to 
be such a mountain above the other nations that the 


[309] 


JOHN’S STANDPOINT 


rest of the world had to unite to crush it. It was 
the only ‘‘mountain’’ since Napoleon and he was the 
fifth one that followed Rome. But no sooner did the 
sixth mountain government come to an end than 
another Mountain government numbering over fifty 
nations came in to take its place. This is the seventh 
—The League of Nations—which, says John, ‘‘must 
continue a little while.’’ Now these seven heads or 
Mountain kingdoms which are human governments, 
are to be followed after ‘‘a little while’’ by the 
eighth; which is the result of Satan uniting three 
of these seven into a government which controls the 
earth. It is ‘‘the Little Horn’’ (Dan. 7:8, 25; ‘‘The 
Beast’’ (Rev. 18:1-8; 17:8-18) and ‘‘The Lawless 
One’’ (II Thess. 2:3-7, 8). It reigns only three and 
a half years which brings the end of human and 
Satanic governments for Christ comes and sweeps 
them all away like the chaff of the summer threshing 
floor (Dan. 2:35). Now sometime during this Sixth 
head (1870-1918 A.D.) John says was to be his 
standpoint and it is only ‘‘ a little while’’ (the sev- 
enth head) from the ‘‘EKighth’’ which is the last and 
which runs only ‘‘three and a half years’’ (Rev. 
135; Dan. 7:25). 

(4) The whole structure of Revelation shows 
that it covers a brief period and that this period is 
the end of this age. When Jesus takes the book out 
of the hand of His Father (Rev. 5:1-7) He proceeds 
to break the seven seals, which are the framework 


[310] 


JOHN’S STANDPOINT 


of the book, and the breaking of these seals show 
events that are related together as has been shown 
in the closing chapters of this volume. Under the 
sixth seal the 144,000 Jews are sealed and left on 
the earth, and the saints are translated after the face 
of Christ appears (Rev. 6:16; 7:8, 9,14). The testi- 
mony of these translated saints overcomes Satan, 
and he has no more standing in heaven even as an 
‘faceuser’’ (Rev. 12:10-12), so he is cast down to the 
earth, and brings forth his Antichrist who endures 
only forty-two months. 

The present condition of the world when there is 
a lull in wars is exactly as Christ has described in’ 
every allusion to his Coming. Note—the exception 
of those ‘‘whose names hath been written in the book 
of life of the Lamb that hath been slain’’ (Rev. 13:8; 
17:8). These do not worship the Beast. This may 
mean the ‘‘Sun-clad woman’’ who is protected in 
‘Ca place prepared of God.’’ This may be the United 
States, which is being remarkably safeguarded 
these days from everything that is even related to 
the Soviet Government of Russia. 


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